Naruto: Another Tale
by LJ58
Summary: What if Naruto never made it out of the academy, or onto Team 7? What would his life have been? An alternate telling adapting canon in ways to tell another side of the story.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Masashi-San's very entertaining characters, nor using them for profit or illegal ventures. I'm just borrowing them for a story of my own.

_**Naruto--Another Tale**_

By

LJ58

The boy sat on a swing not far from the academy as the excited boys and girls milled around, greeting their parents, and introducing their sensei, and just generally enjoying the day. He didn't even look up. He had looked over once, but all he saw was the mocking gazes and contempt of his peers, and the village elders that had long disdained him for reasons he did not even understand.

He was a kid. What had he ever done to deserve this kind of abuse?

He shot another bleak look toward the crowd as a particularly loud burst of raucous laughter filled the air.

The young genin were gathered around Kiba.

Naturally.

He was one of the talented kids. The smart kids. The popular kids.

Like that bastard Uchiha.

He had thought Sasuke would understand him. Appreciate him. They were both orphans, after all. Both alone. Both outsiders.

But, no. Sasuke was perfect, and talented, and every girl that looked at him did so with calf eyes like a witless heifer in heat before it knew what that heat meant. And Sasuke? He looked back with contempt. For everyone.

But most especially him.

"_I had a clan. A family," _he had once deigned tell him_. "You never have, and never will have anything. You're a loser. And whether you're a ninja, or a peasant, you'll always be a loser_."

And of course he made sure everyone heard him. Because when Sasuke Ichiha talked, everyone listened.

And laughed.

Bastard.

Unable to stand it any longer, he pushed to his feet, and walked away from the academy. He knew he would not be coming back. Not again. Not ever.

"_You can always practice this winter, and start over next year_," Iruka had told him.

Even his sensei….his _former_ sensei didn't get it.

He was considered hopeless by all of them.

A clown.

A loser.

He ruthlessly denied the tears that wanted to fall as he walked away through empty streets, most of the village turned out to cheer their family, friends, or just offer support to the village's latest crop of promising genin.

No one even asked him what had happened to him.

Not one.

Instead of turning west to the tiny apartment he lived in over a moldering warehouse, the only place a loser like him could find to live, he turned north, and walked through the gates.

"Going for a walk, Naruto," one of the jonin guarding the village gate asked with his usual grim smile.

"Just a short one," he told the scarred ninja who considered sentry duty as important as any A-ranked mission the Hokage might hand him.

"Don't wander off. We've had reports of a rogue nin in the area lately. They could be after someone important," he confided.

Naruto glanced back at him. "Then I'll be safe, won't I," he asked bitterly. "Because I'm as unimportant as you can get around here."

The ninja frowned behind his mask, but said nothing as Naruto walked away, leaving Kakashi Hatake to his latest book, and his guard duty.

_**N**_

The Hokage had kept an eye on Naruto Uzumaki for over nine years. In all that time, he had seen the boy grow up lonely, and almost desperate for attention. He had watched as the boy tried being friendly only to be slapped down. Watched as he slipped into an inevitably destructive prankish phase, and when that did not bring him what he sought, he just stopped. When he was selected last year as one of the villager's new genin in training, he had been quite excited, and poured himself into the training and study as few ever had.

Only he was uninspiring and average.

Less than average.

He had once more failed the graduation exam that would have made him a full genin, and put him on the path to the life of a ninja of the Hidden Leaf Village.

The Third Hokage felt a little disappointed.

In himself.

He should have been watching the boy more carefully. When he had quieted down, and took to his studies, he had felt sure the young man was on his way to a better life. Then he arrived to find that out of all the promising young students, only Uzimaki had not passed. By the time anyone thought to look for him, he had disappeared.

That was one trick the young, blonde had not needed much help learning. He had obviously learned the hard way to disappear, or suffer more beatings and abuse.

True, the village council had passed an edict that no one was to harm him, but there were those who had a different definition of harm than others.

He was more than alarmed when he heard of Naruto's failure. Even more so when he realized the boy had vanished.

"Pardon me, Lord-Hokage," a bashful, blushing child with wide, silver eyes stammered. "I….I saw Naruto leave an hour ago.

"He was headed for the gates."

"Thank you, Lady Hinata," he bowed to her formally. Despite her youth, she was the heir to the Hyuuga Clan. And one of the few that possessed the incomparable skill of the Byakugan. "Do you know if he said anything before he left?"

"What's to say," a dark-haired boy sneered. "Once a loser, always a loser," the sullen genin in a dark jacket with a distinctive house seal on its back drawled.

Those around him laughed, but the Hokage's gray eyes flashed as he eyed the only Uchiha to have survived the massacre of his Clan.

"If that is what you truly feel, young Uchiha, then you are no better than Itachi.

"A true ninja supports and inspires his comrades. He does not turn his back on them."

"Whatever," the sullen boy muttered, and turned to walk off without showing the least bit of respect.

The Hokage eyed the boy's stiff back. He would bear watching. There was something in him that bothered the Third. Something….dark.

"Iruka," he turned to a young man who wore his battle scars openly without a mask. He felt his students should understand the danger of being a ninja from the start. "I believe Naruto has left the village. I think you have better go after him.

"I fear he might do something….foolish if left to his own designs.

"Take Hatake with you. He is at the gates with Byinai, and will be of use if you need help tracking him."

"At once, my lord," he bowed to one of the greatest ninja of the Leaf Village, turning from his students all eager to hear who was going to be their new sensei, and who would be on their squad training with them to become chunin.

More than a few looked disappointed he had yet to mention those assignments as he summoned his chakra, and raced over the rooftops on a more direct path to the gates than Naruto had taken. It took but an instant to inform the seemingly lethargic copy ninja of the situation, and the silver-haired ninja was just ahead of him as they followed Naruto's trail until it vanished.

"It's not over yet, Iruka," Kakashi told him, biting his own thumb as he let blood flow to add power to the chakra he was summoning.

For that was what he did. Summoned a ninja hound who had never failed him.

"Find Naruto," he told the huge mastiff that snorted, and shared the scent from a discarded shirt Iruka had thought to bring.

The big animal barked, and then turned and raced away as if not bothering to cast for spoor. Kakashi knew better. His ninja hounds were the best trained in the five lands. One sniff was all he had needed to catch the scent already in the air.

"We'll find him," Kakashi told the anxious instructor. "He couldn't have gotten far."

Iruka only hoped things were that simple. For he was one of the few that knew what most did not. He knew the truth about Naruto.

And what lived inside him.

_**N**_

Naruto stood on the edge of the abyss that was said to be bottomless.

The cliffs made him a bit dizzy, but he didn't care.

He pulled off his boots, then his distinctive orange jumpsuit, and stood there in his shorts and a thin, faintly gray tee that had not been properly washed in some time. He stared into the darkness that seemed to be rising to greet him, inviting him to join it.

He drew a deep breath, leaving his clothing neatly folded behind him, and stepped into the chasm.

Let them follow him now, he thought, and gave himself to the void awaiting him.

_**N**_

"Oh, no," Iruka moaned, seeing the neat stack of clothing beside the gorge where few even risked climbing, it was so dangerous.

The shale cliffs made it difficult for even trained ninja, and the deep, narrow crack in the earth eventually ended in a deep ravine masked by a deeper river that poured up out of the deep earth before flowing out to sea.

The hound jumped the cliff, sniffing, but turned and whined as he looked down.

Kakashi nodded, and the big hound vanished in a puff of smoke as the summoning seal faded, letting him return to his own kind.

"I'm sorry, Iruka.

"Even I didn't see how upset he was when he walked past me," he told him. "I thought he was just upset over his squad assignment, or something usual like that."

"I didn't even think….

"I told him he'd be fine. That he could try again next year, and….."

Iruka shook his head. "I tried to be his friend," he finally choked out as he picked up Naruto's last remaining possessions, and turned back toward the village.

"The sad things is," the ninja told the older jonin. "I doubt anyone will even really miss him."

"You will," Kakashi told him, putting a sympathetic hand on his shoulder.

"Yes. I will," Iruka murmured, a part of him relieved that the danger Naruto represented was truly gone. Yet a greater part of him would truly mourn the lonely child who never even understood why people instinctively feared him.

"I'd better go report to the Hokage," he murmured, and led the way back to the village.

At the funeral, held in spite of the lack of a body, only four people attended.

Iruka, Kakashi, the Third, and the young Hinata.

Everyone was surprised by the young girl's presence.

There was, however, no denying the grief in her pale visage.

Her cousin Neji was nowhere to be seen.

_**N**_

"What do you think he's like," Sasuke was asked by the annoying, pink-haired girl that babbled in his ear as he, the bigmouth, and the scruffy Kiba awaited their new sensei after the others left.

"What do I care?

"All I care is that he's competent. I've already wasted a year reviewing baby techniques with you losers," he muttered, staring at the empty desk at the front of the empty class.

"Jeez, Sasuke. Way to go with the teamwork skills," Kiba muttered darkly.

A small, muscular ball of white fur barked agreement.

Sasuke only glared at them.

"Whatever," he muttered.

"And I thought Shikamaru was bad," Kiba told Sakura.

Sakura only stared at Sasuke, and sighed tolerantly.

"Girls," Kiba muttered.

"Arf," Akamaru agreed.

Which was when the door opened.

_**N**_

"I can't believe we're chasing Sasuke," Sakura complained not for the first time as Shikamaru, Kiba, Chouji, and Neji merely glanced at her.

"Technically, we're rescuing him," Shikamaru, their team leader reminded her. "But if it's found that he willingly left with Orochimaru's nin, we'll have to bring him back for trial.

"Or burial."

Sakura gaped, but said nothing.

Sasuke had not exactly been the friendly type in the past few years of their training.

First, he had almost gotten her and Kiba sent back to the academy when they barely passed Kakashi-sensei's first test. Then he had almost gotten her killed with that Hidden Mist lunatic had ambushed them escorting that bridge-builder back to the Land of Waves. Things had been relatively quiet for a while after that, until the Chunin exams were interrupted by Orochimaru, and the Third was killed in a viciously brutal battle while Sasuke barely managed to drive off Gaara, and his demon twin Shukaku.

After that, the Uchiha seemed to turn darker, and even far less friendly.

Which was really saying something for Sasuke of late.

Meanwhile, the Third had been replaced by one of the legendary sanine, Tsunade herself. She had even been giving Sakura a few tips lately, but it didn't seem to impress anyone who still saw her as just another low-level kunoichi.

"Wait," Kiba shouted, and they stopped instantly, senses alert, and studied the area around them.

"Paper bombs," Neji told them, his powerful eyes spying the traps laid all around them. "They covered a full mile to either side of our path.

"If we go around…."

"We'll lose them for certain," Kiba snarled.

"Nothing for it," Shikamaru said, palming a kunai. "Everyone get back."

_**N**_

More than one head turned to the sounds of the massive explosions, and splintering trees off in the forest. "Looks like we caught another bunch of party-crashers," one of the four ninjas surrounding a small, wooden barrel that was in fact a coffin grinned.

They had already left five others dead in their wake.

Amateurs.

They had been no match for the kind of power that Orochimaru had given them.

"One thing for sure, we shouldn't have to worry about being followed for a while," the shapely rogue nin smiled at the massive ninja that looked as if he were carved from stone.

"Yep," the mountain of flesh agreed.

"Too bad," a lean, hawk-faced ninja sniggered. "I was just starting to have fun."

"We're not here to have fun," the other, more dour ninja reminded him. "Remember. We have to have this coffin delivered to Orochimaru by tomorrow morning, or we're probably all dead anyway.

"He doesn't take well to failure."

"Well, we don't have anything to worry about," the big man smirked. "Because who out here is going to be a match for us?"

"How about _me_," a soft voice murmured out of the shadows.

"Wha…?" The four turned, spinning as one as they sought the voice that had spoken out of the growing darkness.

The four tensed, summoning chakra for a fight even as the man clad completely in black stepped out of the darkness with a cold, cruel smile on his deceptively youthful features.

The tall, lean blonde had cold, blue eyes, and his smile bared overly sharp incisors that looked almost like fangs.

"The forest demon," the rail-thin nin hissed, spinning webs designed to ensnare and kill at once.

The dark-clad young man barely shrugged, and the deadly webs just fell away, or exploded into flame that surged back to their master before he could stop the connection.

He died shrieking as flame that would not go out consumed him until not even ash remained.

"By the spirits," the woman gasped, fumbling for the silver flute at her side as the man-mountain slammed huge fists into the earth. "What manner of jutsu is that?"

Instantly, a dome of rock and sand rose to encase the newcomer.

For all of a second.

Then the deceptively slight figure smashed through the chakra-stealing dome that had never failed until now, and then smashed though the master of stone until he was literally rubble himself. The two survivors gaped as they stood guard over their prize, unable to believe how such a scrawny, young creature could possibly defeat two of Orochimaru's best so easily.

"I'll take this one," the other ninja told his surviving comrade as she started to set her flute to her lips.

"Even he can't stop an attack from the inside," he sneered, and dove into the very flesh of the strange young man with a sadistic chortle.

"Because when I become a part of him, I'll destroy him from…..

"Wait. Stop.

"What are dooooooinnnnnnn…….?"

The voice of her companion was lost as it faded away with him, his body somehow being pulled deeper into the stranger that stood so casually before her. He suddenly worked his jaw, and she heard something that sounded eerily like the crunching of bone, and murmured, "Yummy.

"Next."

Her hands trembled as she put the flute to her lips again, and this time, a single, shrill note sounded a second before a flaming, red-orange hand made of pure chakra flashed out to snare the flute, snapping it into quarters.

"I really don't like music," the young stranger she knew had to be the source of the forest demon tales around here snarled, baring his sharp teeth again.

"What….? What do you want," she asked, backing away from him, and the coffin, and Orochimaru's wishes be damned.

"Him," the demon pointed, and the coffin exploded into splinters, ripping her flesh, and leaving the Uchiha sprawled out lifelessly before them.

She forced herself to her feet, bloodied and battered from the slivers of wood that had cut her from neck to knee, and yet somehow missed anything vital. She didn't doubt it was _his_ doing. That he had guided every splinter that slashed her soft flesh, and somehow managed to rip away her tunic, and much of her pants until she was virtually naked.

"Business before pleasure," he told her, and walked over to stare down at Sasuke's limp body as if examining a new kind of bug that had appeared from under a rock.

Reaching down, the hand lifted the Uchiha by his throat, and held him before him like a rag doll.

"Always hunting power. Never caring about anything but yourself.

"You're not better than Itachi," the blonde sneered as he held the older ninja before him, and slowly tightened his grip. "And you're about to be as dead as him, too."

"You….? You killed Itachi," she gasped even as Sasuke's neck snapped audibly like a twig in that powerful hand.

"He got in my way," the demon drawled blandly. "He, and his pathetic band actually thought they could take my life.

"I convinced them otherwise."

"It was you? You were the one that wiped out the Akatsuki last year?"

"Is that what they called themselves? Little matter," he said, tossing Sasuke's body aside as if it were nothing to him.

"But….why kill Sasuke?"

"I didn't like him," the demon shrugged.

The female ninja backed away from him, every instinct screaming as he eyed her with a cold smile.

"And…what about me?"

"You?

"I saved you for last.

"I promised my friend he could have some fun with you."

"Your…..friend," she asked uneasily, her eyes searching the forest as blue eyes began to glow red as he made a complicated gesture signaling a jutsu as beyond her as her power had been beyond the Leaf genin.

Her screams echoed for a long time before they ended.

_**N**_

"I found Sasuke," a broken-hearted Sakura cried out as she carefully arranged the broken body. "They killed him. The twisted monsters just….killed him."

"No, Sakura," Neji told her, looking around as silver eyes flashed, and his view became intense. "I don't think that was the case.

"Look," he pointed, and only then did the young ninjas realize there had been a fight here. It had just been on a level beyond their comprehension.

"This is…..incredible," Kiba exclaimed, finding the remains of the huge ninja all over the place.

As bloody pieces of stone and pebbles.

"These guys would have eaten us alive," Shikamaru realized. "But someone cut through them like they were green genin."

"Weren't there four of them," Chouji asked, not eating for once, as his anxiety was so high.

"There were," Neji agreed, and focusing his Byakugan, he stared around with more intensity. "I think I see……

"Stop," he told Sakura, who moved toward the direction he was gazing first.

His head dropped as he held out a hand, obviously deeply affected.

"Trust me, Sakura. You do not wish to see this.

"Shikamaru. Come with me.

"Chouji, get Sasuke ready to go. We have to take him back home."

"Man, Neji," Shikamaru sighed. "What was so bad that you didn't want Sakura…..?" Shikamaru stopped as Neji did, and the Hyuuga branch family ninja simply pointed.

"Ancestors," the usual indolent young genius gasped, feeling his lunch rise in his belly.

"We are dealing with very powerful forces here," Neji told him. "Let us bury the poor creature, and then get back to Konoha to report.

"The Hokage must know what is going on."

"Right," Shikamaru said as he forced himself to stop to pick up the left arm of the woman's bloody carcass that had stripped, obviously savagely raped, and then literally torn apart and scattered across the small clearing.

"I don't want to meet whatever could do this to Orochimaru's best," he added.

"Nor do I," Neji agreed as he produced a small shovel from a supply scroll he carried to begin digging the grave as Shikamaru gathered the body parts. He did not have to look at the young woman's face to know she died in terror. And in terrible pain.

_**N**_

"_Why not kill them, too_," a voice demanded. A voice that sounded like gargling gravel in a steel throat.

"I'm not ready for that," another voice replied. A more human voice, but one utterly impassive, as if all emotion had been bled from its tone.

"_Why_," the ever-eager twin demanded of its host-friend.

"Remember how you were caught? You start rampaging the same way again, and every ninja in the five countries will swarm over this area. I am not ready to face them.

"Are you?" The voice merely growled in frustration.

"Now behave. I know you still have that other snake ninja inside to play with. Have fun with him, and be quiet.

"I need to watch these genin, and make sure they are truly leaving our hunting grounds."

"_You forget who saved our lives_," the other murmured curtly.

"_You_ forget who still doesn't care," the blonde remarked as he recalled falling into stygian darkness, and seeing only death.

Right before he found himself pulled into his own mind's darkest recesses, and found a huge, sealed gate within. Beyond that gate, monstrous, blood-red eyes, and a scarlet smile filled with teeth leered at him.

"_I knew you were weak. Now you take me with you to oblivion before I can even show you what we could have been_."

"What are you talking about," he had shouted, daring his fear to face the thing he intuitively realized was actually sealed inside his own body and mind.

The smile stretched.

"_Release me, and I will show you_."

Resigned, but curious, he had shrugged.

"How," he asked.

Knowledge had filled his mind.

Much of it even he had known was forbidden knowledge.

And he had then summoned the five-tails for the first time from within his own flesh.

Even as he remembered, he never took his eyes off the four ninja burying what remained of his victims before wrapping the hated Uchiha with care to carry him off like a prize. Well, they'd not get anything from him. He had already taken whatever power was inside that one.

For one of his friend's gifts was that he now 'ate' genjutsu. If someone possessed it, or used it, he could absorb and assimilate it. Becoming its master in but a heartbeat. Even a Kekkei Genkai was his for the taking if he could take but a splash of blood, or the smallest piece of flesh from those that carried bloodline traits.

Which was how he now managed to use Sharingan to keep an eye on the visitors.

Not that Sasuke had much to give him.

But Itachi had shown him much.

Sasuke was just a hateful child corrupted with that snake's poison.

He really might have to kill that snake someday. He kept getting in his way.

And if there was one thing neither of them liked, it was someone that got in their way.

Within his mind, he felt the last surviving snake ninja's terror as he fled in circles on an endless plain within his mind, pursued by a genuine demon that loved to play during the hunt. Still, the ninja wasn't that clever, or that strong. He wouldn't last long.

Not as long as that last Akatsuki they had toyed with for a full three days before he had finally died.

Watching, he was finally satisfied the genin were leaving.

A part of him wished the pink-haired bitch was staying. He could have some fun with her.

Of course, she probably wouldn't enjoy his fun. He'd make sure of it.

Maybe next time.

Yes. Next time.

Within him, the demon smiled, and finally pounced on the snake nin who had thought himself invincible.

_**N**_

"Do you think it was the forest demon everyone has been talking about," Sakura couldn't help but blurt out as Tsunade personally examined Sasuke's body.

"Not unless a demon has fingers," she told him, pointing out the very evident bruising now visible about the pale flesh of the body's throat. "Someone grabbed him. Hard.

"They didn't so much break his neck, as crush it."

"Sasuke's pretty strong," Shikamaru told her. "Whoever managed to do this to him had to be huge."

"Strength is relative in the ninja world, young chunin," he was told, the only ninja to make that level during the recent exams.

"From the imprint of the hand here, the killer was not much bigger than you, and probably a bit leaner.

"But he obviously had incredible strength. Or fueled it with massive amounts of chakra."

"And….the woman?

"We told you about what we found," he added, not saying more as he glanced at Sakura who still paled when she envisioned what had happened to the female. She had demanded Shikamaru tell her, insisting she know everything so she could be better prepared if they had to go back out. Neji had to agree, and they had told her.

She had been pale and quiet ever since.

"That….I cannot explain," the famous sanine admitted.

"We have to do something, Lady-Hokage," Sakura told her recent mentor since she chose to become a medical nin to help her squad. What remained of it.

With Kiba more often going his own way, and Kakashi off on secret missions, she was more often that not assigned to other teams, or left to her own devices. Wanting to be of more use to her fellow nin, and the village she called home, she approached the legendary Hokage to train her.

"We'll wait," Tsunade told her. "I'm sending for…..someone special," he told her. "If there is a demon involved, he'll find out.

"And he'll be better equipped to handle it.

"Meanwhile, I'm issuing a warning to avoid that region of the forest for now. Let everyone know there _is_ something there.

"Meanwhile, Shikamaru," he told him. "You had better get Ino and Chouji. She's back from Kenii, and you have a mission."

"Already? Man, what a drag," the young man sighed.

Still, he left. He knew his duty. They all did.

"What should I do, lady," Sakura asked her quietly as Tsunade removed the rubber gloves she used to explore Sasuke's pale body.

"Today, you get to advance your knowledge, Sakura.

"You are going to autopsy Uchiha, and find out what Orochimaru was doing to him so we can use that knowledge to stop him if he tries again."

Sakura paled all the more as Tsunade handed her a pale of gloves.

She nevertheless took them after donning a medical apron.

She had always wanted to get to know Sasuke, but not like this. Lifting a scalpel, she considered the irony she was finally to find out what had made him tick.

Literally.

_**N**_

"Careful, Hinata," the white-haired man said as they paused in the forest.

To their right, Kiba and Sakura moved quietly on a path parallel with them. To their left, Ino and Shikamaru.

It was a special formation, with a specific purpose.

"Remember," the older man who had first appeared riding on a huge toad had told them before they walked past the warning barriers, "No one is to do anything.

"If you see anyone, or anything, stand perfectly still, and wait for me.

"Absolutely no reaction.

"If you react, you will die."

"Just what is this," Shikamaru had asked.

"A feral jinchuriki. Unless I miss my guess."

"A….what?" "Like Gaara," Kiba had said gravely.

"Exactly. The Akatsuki really stirred them up a few years ago. I've run into a few since then.

"If you don't react, or try to attack, they won't usually approach you.

"I just hope this one isn't as powerful as the seven-tailed cat I had to destroy last month. That one took a lot out of me."

"Seven tails?"

"There are different numbers assigned with levels of power and importance among the kami," he told the young ninjas as he had briefed them.

"And Gaara only had one, so….he was the weaker one? Man," Shikamaru groaned. "I don't even _want_ to imagine anyone stronger than him."

"Let's go," Jiraiya snapped, for he had prepared them, and then they entered the forest where the alleged demon waited.

"Hinata," Jiraiya, the other legendary sanine who had once been a friend and comrade of Orochimaru himself nodded. "Time to try out your jutsu, lady."

The dark-eyed girl nodded, still more than a little self-conscious after Neji had so easily defeated her in the chunin exams. She had barely gotten off the starting mark before he had dropped her with his perfected gentle fist, and left her stunned, and unable to move.

"Byakugan," she murmured, and her silver eyes seemed to blaze as she found the forest coming alive in details that still surprised her since that day she learned what she could do.

All it had taken was Rock Lee's example to inspire her to keep trying in spite of her cousin's contempt.

"If it is out there," she told the Toad Sage. "I cannot see it."

"Jinchuriki are beyond clever," Jiraiya told her. "Do not relax. Not for an instant."

"I understand," the Hyuuga heiress nodded, still searching the forest around them.

"Something is coming," Kiba told them, Akamaru barking agreement as the big hound that had grown considerably of late began to growl his warning.

"I don't see anything," Hinata told him, still focused on the forest around them.

"Maybe you don't," Kiba told her. "But we can smell it," he told her.

"Remember. No one move. No one attack.

"If you appear harmless….."

The dark silhouette seemed to rise right out of the ground before Jiraiya.

"You stink of toads," the tall, blond man in black snarled, his red-flecked eyes locked on his blue eyes as the old sanine stared at him.

"And you smell of fox," he told him, realizing this young man housed a fox demon. But which one? And more importantly, how many tails?

"Naruto," Sakura blurted out even as Hinata stared at him with wide, silver eyes, frozen at the improbability of the grown child she recalled so fondly. A boy she had long thought dead.

The jinchuriki turned as Sakura faced him, instinctively going for a kunai.

Thin lips stretched into a leering smile as he leapt over twenty feet to land atop her, slamming her to the ground as he easily disarmed her, and took her own kunai to set to her throat.

"Sakura," Kiba shouted, rushing to her side only to be slapped away by a thick, orange tail of pure chakra that slammed him and Akamaru both into a nearby tree with enough force to pulp the bark. Neither moved after they hit the ground.

"Do not move," Jiraiya told Shikamaru and Ino as he turned to the jinchuriki who held a sharp blade to Sakura's throat.

"You have no idea how long I have waited for this exact moment, you pink-haired bitch," he snarled in her face as she fought to control her fear.

"Naruto, no," another voice called out even as the old jonin tried to think of how to get the kunoichi away from the demon host without getting her killed. Or worse.

"Hinata," he hissed as the young Hyuuga heiress moved boldly to stand before the blonde jinchuriki, kneeling before him as she even dared to put a hand on his hand. The one that held a knife to Sakura's vulnerable flesh.

"Please, Naruto. We are not your enemies."

"_You_ came hunting us," he growled, frowning at this creature that did not fear him. Seemed, in fact, to _like_ him.

He could smell the truth of her, and as the pink-hair feared him, and was ready to piss herself, the silver-eyed girl was genuinely offering him her heart.

"Why do you not fear me? Hate me? Everyone else does," he grumbled, leaning back to kneel atop Sakura, but no longer threatening her as he cocked his head to study Hinata as Kiba slowly began to come around.

Jiraiya quickly moved to stop him from reacting instinctively, and getting them all killed. Because he had a very bad feeling about this one. A very bad feeling. "I have _never_ feared you, Naruto. _Never_ hated you.

"I always admired you.

"And when we thought you had died, I never stopped _mourning_ you," she said in her soft voice that warmed him to hear. "Then, seeing you…..finding you here…..

"Naruto, I want to tell you now, while I have the chance.

"I always admired you. Always liked you.

"You worked so hard. Even though no one cared. Even though you never had the chances others did, you still worked hard, and did your best.

"That helped inspire me, because…..because I had everything, and yet…..I was worthless. I could not do anything right.

"Not in my family's eyes.

"Not in my comrade's eyes.

"Not even in my own eyes," she admitted.

"I always hoped, though, that…..that I might find worth in your eyes.

"Only then you died. Or…..Or so we all thought.

"Please, Naruto. I don't know what has brought you here. To this state. But come back with us.

"Return to the village.

"Our….._Your_ village."

"Naruto….?

"Uzumaki?"

He turned to eye the old man. "What of it, old man. It's a name. One I've not even used in years," he grunted, still sitting atop the pink-haired bitch. He enjoyed making her sweat, even though he was not going to hurt her.

"_Why not_," a voice within complained.

"_It's more fun making her squirm_," he replied. "_What she thinks we might do will torment her _far _more than anything we do just now_," he laughed inwardly.

"_And the brunette_," his fox companion/twin asked slyly.

"_I like her_."

The fox chortled.

"_Have we finally found our _mate," he growled eagerly.

"_Maybe_," he admitted. "_We shall see_."

"Naruto," Hinata asked when he seemed to fall silent, simply staring at her.

"Yes?"

"Will you come back with us? With me?" Jiraiya tensed, his suspicions making him all the more wary as he waited for the young man to reply.

"With you.

"But if anyone attacks me," he growled, eyeing Kiba as he spoke, baring incisors sharper than even the ninja hound master's. "I won't hold back again."

That was what Jiraiya had feared.

If this was the Uzumaki, he was afraid there might not be a shinobi in all the world that could manage him. This was going to take care and planning.

"Hinata. Why don't you bring your….new friend back to Konoha. I have to attend another errand before I can return."

"What about us," Kiba growled, looking less than pleased he had just been smashed into the ground by this 'demon,' and was now expected to just let him walk into their village.

"Accompany Lady Hinata," Jiraiya grinned, and vanished.

"Accompany Lady Hinata," Kiba muttered darkly, not missing Naruto's glare as he and Akamaru came up behind him.

"It's not that bad, Kiba," Ino told him. "At least he hit you in the _face_. That way, no one can tell the difference."

"Wow," Shikamaru grinned, eyeing Kiba's blustering reaction. "She got you there, buddy."

"I thought you were all friends," Naruto frowned, turning back to Hinata who was leading him toward a direction he had never traveled.

"Oh, they're just playing. They like to tease one another. It is part of how we show we care."

"It is….a strange way to show feeling," he grumbled, Ino now sticking her tongue out at Kiba, and then blushing when she realized the stranger was staring right at her.

"So. You're really Naruto? The loser kid that got thrown out of the academy," Shikamaru asked as Sakura stayed well away from him as she followed them back to the village.

She had always loved Sasuke, and been admired by others. Well, except for Ino-Pig. But never had anyone looked at her with such hate and contempt in their eyes. And never had she felt so close to death as when that blonde demon had stared down at her.

"I was not thrown out," he spat irritably. "I left."

"Shikamaru, please," Hinata cautioned him. "Let us remember more pleasant things." "Good idea," Ino agreed. "Leave it to a guy to screw up even when things are looking up."

Sakura said nothing.

"Let's not argue," Hinata asked firmly, and every one of her team understood.

"We're not," Shikamaru drawled in his indolent fashion. "I'm just wondering how you could get thrown out of the academy, declared dead, and then show up with more power than the most elite ninja in the five lands.

"That's all."

Naruto didn't say a word.

He simply followed along beside Hinata.

_**N**_

"Jiraiya? You're back earlier than I expected.

"Did you already find the forest demon," Tsunade asked, her expression slightly mocking.

Not that she didn't doubt there were demons in the world. She had seen the nine-tails herself as a younger girl, and feared seeing it would be her last sight in this world. Only the Fourth's unexpected sacrifice stopped the creature, and ended the devastation unleashed upon their land by the demon fox.

She did believe. She just didn't believe a true demon was hiding in the forest, preying on unwary travelers. Rogue nin, or common thugs, maybe, but not demons.

"I found a jinchuriki, Tsunade," he told her grimly. "It calls itself Naruto."

"Naruto? Wasn't that the kid the Third reported dead years ago in his annals by his own hand," Shizune asked.

"Yes," Tsunade nodded, not really sure, since paperwork was a bane she despised, and she had never bothered reading the stacks and stacks of scrolls left behind by the old man.

Still, if her friend, and often tormentuous aide said it was so, she had little doubt it was so.

"So, Jiraiya, are you telling me he's alive? That he is our demon."

"In more ways than one.

"I saw him hammer Kiba and Akamaru unconscious with a single blow."

"We've both seen fantastic strength before now," she huffed, curling up a tight fist, and reminding her former comrade of her own significant power.

"He did it with a tail of pure, red-orange chakra that emerged from his body in the blink of an eye."

Tsunade didn't reply at first.

For a moment, she was back in the forest, watching the world burn as a massive fox that towered over the tallest trees unleashed fiery destruction with bolts of pure red chakra summoned by the demon's black heart.

She swallowed hard.

"Chakra? Red chakra?"

"Yes, Lady Tsunade," the usually blasé toad sage nodded somberly. "I think this jinchuriki is the nine-tails. And the seal is weak. I could feel it.

"After all these years, the demon-fox is close to breaking free once again."

"Where is it," Tsunade demanded.

"Hinata and the others are leading him in."

"You left those genin….?

"Jiraiya," she started to growl.

"I'm not an idiot," he told her, putting up both hands. "The demon wasn't taking a liking to me. But it was taking a liking to Hinata.

"I think she could be the key to controlling him long enough for the seal to be re-strengthened."

"Are you sure," Shizune asked, knowing enough of the nine-tails to know it was the most feared of all demons. And with good cause.

"It was about to gut Sakura like a fish, but Hinata simply spoke to it, and it listened. She saved the silly girl's life, and probably all our lives.

"I think Lady Hyuuga has unplumbed depths, for no one ever suggested she had such courage. Or daring.

"Even Ino was ready to bolt by the time the jinchuriki revealed himself. Little wonder the common people hereabouts called the forest haunted. It was!"

"All right, Jiraiya. You must have a plan. That's why you're here, right," Tsunade asked.

"Well, my first plan was to run away," he admitted, smiling ruefully. "But what kind of climax would that be for the life of one of the three legendary sanine," he sighed.

"It would fit yours, you lecherous, old pervert," Shizune sniffed.

He shot her a cold glare, and looked back at his former squad mate. "My other plan," he added, "Is to use the apparent bond he seems to have with Hinata.

"If we can use Hinata to keep him calm, we might be able to reseal the demon, and restore the boy's mind to normal."

"All right. We'll try.

"But I'm having Anbu stand by. If he starts to summon chakra, or looks the least bit dangerous, I'm ordering them to kill him instantly.

"With all due respect, Tsunade," he told her. "Even Ibiki could never move as fast as this Naruto."

"Do you have any other ideas?"

"Yes," he told her somberly. "Keep Hinata close."

_**N**_

"No," Naruto told her bluntly after she had explained who she was, and what she wished to do. For his own good, of course.

"No," the Hokage blinked, not used to being denied even before she took the Third's place. "Listen, kid. I don't think you fully understand….."

"No. You don't understand.

"You can't mend a seal that isn't broken."

"Isn't….?

"Lord Jiraiya himself sensed your power, jinchuriki. He knows what he is talking about, as he has faced others like you before this."

"I doubt it," the blonde drawled as he kept looking around the office as if seeking something.

Behind him, Hinata, Jiraiya, and Shizune were close by, and only she knew the Anbu were lurking in shadows nearby with poisoned darts ready if necessary.

She could have accepted arrogance. Or smugness. But his utter indifference was beyond belief. He was acting….bored.

"All right, Naruto," she asked, rising from behind her desk to come around to face her. "Tell me why I should believe your seal is not broken when a trusted comrade insists that it is?"

"Because it's true.

"My seal did not so much hold the nine-tails within me as it joined us body and soul. We are fused. We are the same.

"But the seal allows us to exist simultaneously in here," he said, putting a finger to his head, "Or even allow me to summon him if I need his aid.

"Which is rare," he added pointedly.

"I see.

"Do you know how you came to be infused with the demon….?"

"Kyuubi told me.

"He was controlled by the Uchiha traitors who wanted to take down Konoha. Even he has trouble with the Sharingan.

"By the time the Uchiha released him, he was already fighting for his life, and could do nothing to prevent the Fourth from sealing himself in me. That Hokage's own son."

"So. You do know."

"I have learned many things since I walked away from your petty village," he snorted.

"If you dislike us so much," Tsunade huffed. "Why did you return?" "Why did you return, sanine? Still seeking sanctuary from your own debts? Or are you hoping even Orochimaru will not strike at you here?" Tsunade gaped.

"I may live in the forests, old woman, but that does not mean I do not _hear_ many things."

Tsunade was not stupid. She heard the venom in his otherwise neutral tone when he spoke of Orochimaru. She leaned against the desk, eyeing him, giving a 'wait' signal to her assassins as she asked, "And why are you here? You never did answer."

"Answer me first, and I might do the same," he told her slyly, crossing his arms in much the way the Fourth would do when challenging someone.

In that moment, he looked much like his father.

But the crimson flecks in his blue eyes gave him an entirely different presence.

"All right.

"Believe it or not, I am still loyal to my village, and my people. I came back because I knew someone had to protect them until a new, and stronger Hokage could be found to continue upholding our traditions and our ways.

"And if you know Orochimaru, then you know that _hiding_ in this village would be as useful as hiding in plain sight atop a sunlit mountaintop."

"True," he smiled thinly.

"I answered you," Tsunade told him after a moment, gauging his mood as she studied the somber young man. "How about you talk now?"

"Why did I come?

"I could say a lot of things, and a lot of those things might be true.

"In part.

"But I suppose if you are being honest, I should be, too," he told her in the same indifferent tone.

"I came because Hinata asked me.

"She did not try to force me. Or sway me. Or threaten me.

"She asked.

"I respect that," he told her as the young heiress standing nearby blushed furiously at the eyes that went to her now.

"There are those that will not believe you are not the demon incarnate," Tsunade told him. "The fact is, we happen to know there are those looking for you, and your kind."

"My kind," Naruto huffed.

"Jinchuriki. Demon hosts. That is another reason we are so cautious of late."

"If you are referring to the Akatsuki, you are behind the times, old woman. They were all killed over a year ago.

"Orochimaru might still be out there being a pest, but those other would-be tyrants are buried under their own mountain."

"How can you be so sure," Jiraiya asked him quietly, knowing well enough that the men of the Akatsuki were extremely powerful ninja. He had barely survived a routine reconnaissance to track down a mysterious figure known only as Pain.

Naruto smiled a chilling smile as he eyed the old man whom he did not care for at all.

"Because I'm the one that dropped the mountain on them."

"You," Shizune gasped. "You dropped a mountain….?

"Literally?" "It's their own fault," he shrugged. "They're the ones that thought hiding inside the mountain made them invisible. Or invincible. Or whatever.

"All it really did was make a very large gravestone."

"I don't suppose…..you could demonstrate your alleged control of the nine-tails," a darkly clad ninja asked, emerging from cover, and obviously acting against the Hokage's orders from the look on the older woman's face.

"You might as well ask your toad sage to demonstrate his control of Lord Gama," Naruto sniggered as Jiraiya had the sense to look a bit embarrassed.

Gama, it seemed even the fox knew, was the one toad that disdained Jiraiya's contract with the toads, and tended to eye him less than favorably. He might show up, but he might just sit and watch the fight as easily as he might aid in it. He was that willful.

"You are saying the nine-tails does have his own control? His own will," the older ninja demanded of him, moving to tower over him as if size alone might intimidate the younger ninja.

"Denzou," Tsunade hissed.

Right before Naruto tapped the bigger ninja in the chest, and put him through three walls before he came to a stop in the fourth, looking more than stunned.

"I see some things haven't changed," Naruto told the four that gaped at him.

"But as the rest of your assassins haven't moved," he remarked as he turned to look around as if noting the position of every shadow that hid a ninja. "I take it you are willing to trust me?" "In fact, Naruto," Tsunade told him. "We could use you."

"Our village is in danger, Naruto," Hinata told him earnestly. "After Orochimaru assassinated the Third, and his attack killed over a third of our shinobi, we barely managed to drive him and his people away.

"Now, he is back, and the rumor is he has a new host body and will soon be leading another attack to finish what he started."

"I don't know what host he took," Naruto shrugged, "But it wasn't Uchiha."

"No. Apparently, he was slain before he could reach his destination. Along with at least three of the Snake's lieutenants."

"Four," Naruto shrugged.

"Yes, well, I know Orochimaru. He won't let such a slight pass.

"He might not care about his own people, but he'll take any slight against himself personally. He'll rally every resource he has, and throw them all against us.

"And, frankly, Naruto," the Fifth told him. "All we have left are a handful of aging Shinobi," he was told, making Jiraiya scowl.

"And even more young genin who are no match for the jonin sure to come."

"I see," he nodded as he eyed the woman.

"You suspected my identity all along. Didn't you, old woman?" "I had a good idea it was you."

"You did," Jiraiya blurted out. "I mean, of course you did. You always were the smart one."

"Which means you must be the comic relief," Naruto drawled, making Hinata giggle.

Jiraiya scowled again.

"The point is, I was hoping it was you, Naruto. Although even the Third thought you had died, the reports were….less than conclusive.

"When the stories of the demon in the forest reached my ears, I began to wonder.

"And to hope.

"I know this village has not given you much cause to care what happens to us, but….you are still a member of Konoha, and….."

"I'll help," Naruto told her.

He glanced over at Hinata, who smiled brightly.

"I said I'll help," he added when Tsunade seemed nonplussed at his being so agreeable when she was ready to argue her point.

"That's…..great," she smiled as she looked over to where two ninja were helping Denzou walk away.

Although, walk might not be the most accurate word. From the look of his left leg and crushed ribs, she didn't think he was going to be on his feet anytime soon.

"Thank you, Naruto," Tsunade bowed to him. "On behalf of the Hidden Leaf, I welcome you home, Naruto Uzumaki."

"Whatever," he shrugged, and turned to Hinata.

"So, Hinata? Would you like to show me around? I'm sure a few things have changed since I was last here?"

"Well, not really," she blushed. "But….I would like to introduce you to my squad. Shino would like you, I'm certain. He's very quiet, but very smart.

"And Rock Lee is not very good at ninjitsu or genjutsu, but he is truly amazing at taijutsu, and incredibly strong."

"I'll be around, old woman," he turned to offer his arm to Hinata, who blushed all the more as she took it. "Just call when you need me."

"Is it wise letting him go like that," Jiraiya asked.

"Who would stop him," Tsunade asked. "I mean, when was the last time you saw anyone handle Denzou like that?"

Jiraiya glanced at the shattered walls that were not the usual paper walls of common houses. The Hokage's house and offices were built of stone. Thick stone. It was a wonder even that tough old man had not been killed.

"You have a point, Lady Tsunade. Still…."

"Keep an eye on him.

"And try to earn his respect, or his favor. Offer to teach him….something.

"Not _that_," she spat as the old man's eyes lit up.

Jiraiya actually pouted.

"Meanwhile, find Kakashi. I've a job for him."

"Fine. I'll go get the moody brooder, and let you plan dark deeds.

"But don't blame me when you find out I was right about this Uzumaki."

"Right? You still think his seal is weakened?" "Weak? Hell, no. I think its _broken_."

Tsunade had nothing to say to that.

_To Be Continued……_


	2. Chapter 2

I do not own Masashi-San's very entertaining characters, nor using them for profit or illegal ventures. I'm just borrowing them for a story of my own.

_**Naruto: Another Tale**_

_**By LJ58**_

**Part 2:**

"_She desires you_," the fox murmured in his mind.

"_I know. I am not blind_."

"_Is she the one?"_

"_I don't know. She is…..nice_."

"_Nice_," the fox chortled sardonically. "_I want to mate, and you speak of nice?_

"_If you wanted to mate, why not keep that last nin_?"

"_Please. Even I have my standards. I'd never rut with one of the Snake's vile creatures_."

"_Nor would I, Kyuubi_.

"_But if she is the one, we'll do this my way_," he told his counterpart even as a man with a dour gaze, and cold, silver eyes moved to block their way as they left the Hokage's offices.

"Oh. Neji," Hinata suddenly sounded cowed. "This is…."

"I know what it is," the Hyuuga cousin drawled, eyeing Naruto. "The village is not so large that such tales don't spread fast.

"But that you are accompanying this….creature disturbs me. And your father. He sent me to order you home."

"Tell her father she will return shortly. After we have finished our tour."

"I did not speak to you," the slightly older young man told Naruto.

"Neji, please. You cannot fight Naruto."

"I do not fear even a jinchuriki," he stated. "And we both have our duty."

"So. You're the sort I'm supposed to be helping protect," he asked quietly.

"Neji," Ino and Shikamaru appeared just then. "Hey, buddy," the latter drawled. "Trust me, you don't want to get in _his_ face. Kiba is still recovering from trying that move."

"Indeed," Neji murmured, eyeing the bright, blue eyes liberally flecked with dark orange that looked nearly red. Eyes that locked on him, almost seeming to glow as they regarded him.

"All right," Neji bowed to his cousin, using a less than reverent nod to do so. "But your father will hear of your insolence."

"What a jerk," Naruto snorted as Neji marched off. "He even walks like he has a stick up his…."

"That's just his way," Hinata told him quickly. "Neji is very proud, and strives to be the best."

"He should start by losing the attitude," Naruto told her.

"Look in the mirror much," Ino drawled, used to sarcastic replies among her friends.

Naruto glanced at her, and she paled for a moment before he slowly smiled. "No, I haven't. Not many mirrors in the forest," he told her with a sudden boyish grin that made him look much younger.

"I was taking Naruto to meet Shino and Lee," Hinata broke in as the two seemed to join them as they walked down the street, the other villagers giving them a wide berth, proving word had already spread.

"They'll be at the ramen shop," Ino predicted. "If Lee isn't out practicing again."

"How is Kiba," she asked. "And Akamaru?" "Kiba's fine. His nose was broken, but for him, that's an improvement," Ino giggled. "Akamaru is more upset he lost to a boy half his size.

"Well, that's what Kiba says," Ino told them when Naruto looked at her oddly.

"Oh, no. Is that Chouji," Shikamaru asked when they spotted a huge back occupying three stools at the counter of the noodle shop where a few other younger ninja were gathered.

"You'd better hurry if you want anything to eat," Shikamaru told Naruto neutrally. "When Chouji shows up, food tends to disappear."

Naruto merely smiled, his thoughts masked as the others laughed, and followed them to the counter where a few seats had just been freed by departing patrons.

"Guy-sensei," Hinata bowed to a man with thick, but short black hair in a bowl cut. "This is Naruto Uzumaki," she told the smiling man.

Who froze comically as he gaped at the lean, blonde in black.

"Uzu….maki," he parroted. "The dead kid?

"Then it's true. The dead are walking again!

"It truly is the _END_," he exclaimed dramatically.

"Sensei," Hinata tried not to laugh as a mirror image somewhat younger of the green-clad ninja turned to eye his master with some confusion. "Naruto is not, and never was dead.

"He survived, and has been living in the forests."

"Oh. I knew that," the man replied, instantly regaining his composure with a broad smile. "So, Naruto. So, Naruto. What brings you back from the dea…..?

"Eh, the forests?" "Hinata," Naruto replied, rolling his eyes at the man's antics. This was a Leaf shinobi?

"And, Orochimaru," he added somberly when the man in green started to grin at that first reply.

The ninja was suddenly all business.

"What do you know of that snake," he demanded.

"More than you might think."

"Naruto killed the four rogue nin that took Sasuke," Hinata told him proudly as if he had done so just for her.

"_And_ Sasuke, I'm told," a tall, dark-haired ninja in a coat that hid most of his lower face remarked.

"How….?

"Naruto, this is Shino. And this is Rock Lee. They are my squad mates.

"Everyone, this is Naruto. Lady Tsunade has convinced him to stay and help us against Orochimaru."

"P'sh t'm's'chaa," the big ninja slurred as he simultaneously crammed enough food into his mouth to feed three people.

"That is Chouji," Hinata smiled. "He's very strong, but usually very hungry.

"You can guess he takes his eating seriously."

"So, you're going to help stop Orochimaru," Shino asked.

"Admirable," Rock Lee told him, his very image a younger copy of the sensei still eyeing Naruto suspiciously as if seeking signs of the grave on him.

Naruto decided that Guy was an idiot.

"But even if you are as strong as Guy-sensei, you are going to have trouble facing that evil ninja. He is one of the three legendary sanine, and knows forbidden jutsu that cost the Third Hokage his life in the end.

"It is said he even employs jinchuriki, and is known to possess dark arts, and…."

"Naruto, I suspect, is more than a match for Orochimaru," Shino broke in.

Rock only stared at him.

"You are the one that killed the Akatsuki last year?

"Dropped a whole mountain on them, I believe I heard."

Guy's jaw dropped.

Rock seemed more than a little distressed. He was the strong man in their squad, and he felt he was fast becoming the strongest in the village. Next to the Hokage, of course.

"Shino uses bugs in his jutsu," Hinata told Naruto. "He probably knows more about what is said in the village than the Hokage."

Naruto only smiled at him. "I know," he said cryptically.

Shino said nothing.

"A….whole _mountain_," Rock Lee whispered.

"I'm more curious as to why you killed Sasuke," Shino asked him after a moment's pause.

"Two reasons," Naruto told him.

"Only two," Shikamaru asked, he and Ino having ordered their own food, and sitting to eat. ' "Two," Naruto nodded. "One, Orochimaru wanted him. And since that snake nin tends to annoy me lately, I felt I should deprive him of anything he wanted."

"And the second reason," Rock asked.

"I didn't like him," Naruto shrugged, seeing no reason to lie to these people. They meant nothing to him. In fact, if things worked out, they would soon be his pawns in a plan that extended far beyond anything Orochimaru ever dared dream.

"No one likes Orochimaru," Ino blustered.

"I meant Sasuke. Just because I've not been here in over ten years doesn't mean I've forgotten my life here."

No one had a reply for that.

"Then I am doubly amazed. For Sasuke was a gifted ninja, with powerful jutsu. To have defeated him….."

"He was nothing," Naruto snorted, his nostrils flaring with his disdain as he cut off Lee. "Not even that bone-throwing ninja Orochimaru sent to try to capture me a few years ago was any trouble. After all….foxes _like_ bones," he smiled thinly.

No one replied to that.

"Sensei," Hinata finally spoke up. "I thought…..Naruto might like to join us. For training. Or….something….."

"He's not even a genin," Rock Lee exclaimed.

"That's right. He flunked out of the academy as I recall," Shino murmured.

"He was failed purposely," another voice spoke up.

"Mizuki-sensei," the younger ninja turned to address the silver-haired newcomer with respect.

"Mizuki," Guy murmured. "What brings you out of your tower," he asked the academy's senior instructor.

"Are you kidding me, Guy," the man smiled a bit insincerely to Naruto's eyes. "When I heard Naruto Uzumaki was not only alive, but back in the village, I had to meet him.

"He deserves to know that he should have passed all those years ago. Only….political pressures kept the instructors from passing him. Pressure from the Anbu. And….certain other elements.

"They feared he might grow too powerful to contain, or….."

"Control," Naruto asked knowingly.

"Exactly.

"At any rate, Naruto," the man smiled. "I thought you had the right to know after I heard you were back."

Naruto eyed the man carefully as Mizuki smiled at him with that same smug expression.

"_Do not trust him_," the fox whispered in his mind.

"_Not in this lifetime_," Naruto replied in the same voice.

"Maybe we could speak of this later," Mizuki told him.

"Sure. Anytime," Naruto nodded, knowing he'd take whatever this schemer said with a very great deal of salt.

"Good. Oh, and Guy, Lord Hyuuga is looking for his daughter. He has heard some disturbing rumors of her behavior on this last mission with Lord Jiraiya, and wants her to attend him at once."

Hinata sighed as Naruto put an arm on her shoulder.

"We plan on seeing the man after Lady Hinata has shown me around a little more," he said, not bothering to mention food. "As she pointed out, a lot has changed since I was here.

"Shall we go, Lady Hinata," he asked her, offering his arm again.

She blushed, but was thankful for his offer.

"Shinobi, or not," Rock Lee told him as they turned to go. "I would be honored if you would spar with me some day, Naruto Uzumaki. If only to see how much stronger I must grow to throw mountains, too," the young man said enthusiastically.

"Is he for real," Naruto asked Hinata after they left the others behind. Even Ino and Shikamaru remained behind to eat. He guessed if they hadn't, they would have found another excuse to leave them.

"Yes," she smiled at him. "Lee is very….earnest.

"As I said, he has no real skill at genjutsu or ninjitsu, so he focuses on taijutsu, and is determined to be the strongest there is at that art."

"Well, he is spirited," Naruto remarked wryly, dismissing him from his plans. He needed more than what a mere taijutsu master could offer for his ultimate plan to succeed. "But can you really learn anything from your sensei? He seems a bit…."

"He is unique," she smiled and laughed lightly, feeling more alive with Naruto than she had felt in years. "But he is very skilled, too.

"He helped hold off many of Orochimaru's nin single-handedly while Kakashi and Jiraiya drove off the snake-summoned demons."

"Really? I guess he's deeper than he looks."

"_He'd have to be_," the fox sniggered within his mind.

"_Behave_," Naruto chided him, although he was chortling, too. "_We're being inconspicuous. Remember?"_

"Naruto," she said, suddenly fearful.

"Yes?" "M-My….father is here," she said, stopping as a tall man bracketed by six house ninja approached them.

"Father," she dropped Naruto's arm to quickly step forward and bow formally. "I was just bringing Naruto to introduce you….."

"I know all about the jinchuriki, girl," Lord Hiashi snapped, giving Naruto a dismissive glance. "I summoned you not once, but twice, Hinata.

"Have you so soon forgotten your duties? Or your place," he asked quietly, but in a tone designed to cow.

Only it was not working on Naruto as he glared at the man, and stepped forward himself.

Unlike Hinata, he did not bow.

"Big man, aren't you, Hyuuga?"

"What," he sputtered, eyeing Naruto with obvious contempt.

"You look down on me because of what you think I am. You look down on your daughter because of what you think she isn't. I wonder. Is there anyone you don't look down on?"

"You go too far….."

"If I met you in the forest," he told the Hyuuga lord. "I wouldn't even bother to confront you. You aren't _worth_ the time or effort," he drawled, and turned to face Hinata.

"Lady Hinata," he called her for the as he bowed to her. "I shall see you again later. Maybe by then your father will have heard the whole truth of your conduct, and realize what a brave, and loyal shinobi you are in your own right."

Casting a last, scathing look at the powerful lord, he turned his back on him, and walked off.

He heard every man with Hyuuga tense, ready to act at a moment's notice. Ready to obey their lord if he should order them to attack.

As if guessing his intent, Hinata asked, "Father, he killed Orochimaru's lieutenants without effort. Do you truly think our house guards would trouble him?"

All six ninja froze, and he sensed the confusion from the Hyuuga lord as he kept walking away.

The bodyguards didn't attack, and he turned down another path to lose them in the crowd. A crowd that still parted before him, as if every one in the village had been notified of what he looked like.

"Enough of this," he snarled, and gathering his chakra, he fueled the muscles in his body, and simply leapt up to the nearest rooftop. Moments later, he was outside the village, and running free once more.

_**N**_

"Mind if I join you," Iruka asked as the one friendly face from his youth appeared out of the night.

Naruto looked up from the venison he was roasting after a late hunt, and gestured for the ninja to join him by the fire as the moon rose behind them, lighting the glen with bright, silver light.

"I don't know if you remember me…..?" Naruto suddenly smiled. "How could I forget you, Iruka-sensei," he smiled as the scarred ninja settled next to him rather than across from him. A gesture that told him he felt they were equals. "You made quite the stir today."

"I suppose."

"You are welcome to stay in the village, you know? The Hokage thought you would return to lodge with her."

"I don't like walls," he growled.

"Or crowds, I suppose," he asked knowingly.

"Depends on the crowd," he shrugged, using his bare hand to rip off a strip of roasting flesh.

"Hungry," he asked, holding the steaming meat to him.

Iruka smiled, and produced a kunai to cut his own.

"Guess I never learned table manners," Naruto grumbled.

"I don't fault you for that. I'm sure you did the best you could, considering you've been on your own for so long."

"Not really."

"No?"

"I had Kyuubi," he said, using the name the nine-tails had given him.

"Ky….

"The nine-tails."

"He's not _truly_ evil, Iruka-sensei," he said with a sincere tone, his eyes dancing with the fire.

"He's a kami, of course. And a powerful one.

"But even he was vulnerable to certain jutsu at the time."

"I heard what you said about the Sharingan. Is that why you destroyed Uchiha."

"That, and I never liked the bastard," he admitted. "Oh, and I really didn't think Orochimaru should get his hands on him."

"You don't seem to like him, either, I've noticed. From your tone, I mean."

"He's tried to conscript me several times," Naruto admitted as they ate. "He doesn't like to take no for an answer.

"I've had to shove it down his throat a few times."

"Quite successfully, I have heard."

Naruto shrugged.

They ate in silence for a few moments, and then Naruto asked, "So, when is your friend going to introduce himself?" Iruka smiled wanly.

"You have gotten good," he remarked. "We didn't want to just…."

"Call him in.

"It's a chilly night. He might as well sit by the fire, too," Naruto told him.

"Hatake," he called out without shouting.

The copy-nin appeared almost instantly.

"You're good," Kakashi said as the older ninja sat down across from them to take out a kunai to cut a strip of roasted flesh for himself without being asked. "Not many can spot me when I'm in the shadows."

"You waste a lot of chakra with your genjutsu," Naruto told him. "And I can sense it."

"Waste," Kakashi blinked with his single eye.

"You're better than most at control, but you still waste a lot. And that is what I can detect.

"It's like…when you dip your hand into the water, you let a lot spill out. I can sense the drops," Naruto told him smugly.

"Amazing, isn't he," Iruka told his companion. "To be self-taught, he's very skilled….."

"Actually, Kyuubi taught me a lot. And he knows a great many things," he added needlessly.

"I would imagine so," Kakashi nodded.

"So, why are you really here," he asked them bluntly.

"Lady Tsunade told me you were direct," Kakashi smiled behind his mask. "But I like that.

"All right, Naruto. Lady Hokage does not know when Orochimaru might show. I assume neither do you."

He shrugged.

"All the same, she would like to have you show a bit of….unity with the Leaf Village. To help people realize they don't need to fear you."

"You mean what is inside me," he asked pointedly with a cold stare, remembering old fears that still tried to rise in spite of his power.

"You, or it," Kakashi nodded.

"And how am I to accomplish this miracle," he asked irritably. "I couldn't even walk down the street without having people look at me as if I were a plague. They ran over themselves trying to get out of my way today."

"Well, this is her idea," Kakashi said, and held out a shinobi's headband. "She wants you to train with me for what time we have, and to become a true Leaf ninja."

"Wouldn't I have to return to that academy again first," he asked sourly.

"No. Miss Shizune took the liberty of reexamining your scores and standing in the academy the year you attended.

"I imagine that right about now, she is in the hospital, questioning Danzo about why he forced your instructors to fail such a bright, promising student."

"So, Mizuki was telling the truth at least in part."

"Mizuki," Iruka asked. "He's talked with you?"

"He wants something. I could sense it. He came by telling me how I was wronged, and how he would like to make up for that crime.

"But I don't trust him."

"I wouldn't," Kakashi told him. "We've long suspected he's a double agent for Orochimaru."

"Yet you let him run free," Naruto frowned.

"It's a good way to feed him false information, and to let him unknowingly tip us off to whatever might be planned this time," Iruka told him.

"I suppose," Naruto frowned. "It's always been my experience that when something ugly crosses your path, it's best to kill it before you offer your back to it as a target."

"If you are wise," Kakashi told him. "You will learn that strategy and tactics can turn a threat into an ally if you are wise enough to lead them, rather than letting them lead you."

"Acting? Or reacting? I learned that lesson ten years ago, old man," he called Kakashi. "I'm old enough to have long since learned the value of such lessons," he told him.

Naruto then smiled a bit smugly. "If I count Kyuubi, I'm older than your entire village's combined history."

"All the same, I believe Lady Tsunade's ploy is wise," he was told, still holding out the headband. "Show the people you are one of us, and that you can be trusted."

"I would think the fact I let that Hyuuga jerk live says something."

Naruto paused, tapping his chin thoughtfully, then added, "Actually, I let _two_ Hyuuga jerks live….so that should definitely count for something."

Iruka smiled, but Kakashi did not react.

"Will you train with me," Kakashi asked pointedly, still holding out the headband.

"Why not," he finally remarked, and reached out to take the headband.

_**N**_

The woman gasped as she left the forest, and stopped before the post that marked her usual training ground. Even though she was now Lady Tsunade's apprentice, she was still the last member of squad seven, and until it was disbanded, she was Kakashi-sensei's student.

Only today, she did not find her teacher waiting for her. Or even an empty training ground, as was more usual.

Today, _he_ stood there.

"So, you're his student," the blonde turned, shocking her again when she saw the gleam of the shinobi headband on his brow.

"You….? When did you…?

"I mean…."

"I was surprised, too," he told her, thinking of his early morning meeting with Mizuki more than the disgusting pink-haired bitch he was doing his best not to attack outright. For whatever reason, he truly did hate her. Almost as much as Uchiha.

True, she was one of those that laughed at him most. One that mocked him. But so did many others, and he had virtually forgotten them. So why remember her so virulently?

"_You desired her once_," the fox informed him.

"_Her_," he hissed back in surprise and horror.

"_Her_?" he echoed himself.

"_There are things you still won't let yourself remember. When you do, you'll remember her more clearly_."

"_Well_," he shot back, "_We'll just be sure to use her as one of the _six_," _Naruto growled inwardly with meaning as he eyed the pink-hair. "_That should make for a little vindication. And fun_."

The fox agreed.

Naruto snorted after a moment as he eyed the pink-hair. "So, what became of your squad mates?"

"Takajiri died in the Land of Waves protecting a bridge that land needed," she told him, forcing herself to face him. "Kiba replaced him, but he's off on another assignment. And….And Sasuke….."

"Right. I killed him. Your sensei doesn't have a very good track record, does he," he asked insolently.

"In fact," Kakashi told him as he came up from behind him. "I've buried more friends and comrades than I care to think about. That, too, comes with experience," he told Naruto.

"Sakura," he nodded. "I've heard you knew Naruto. That you went to school with him."

"That was….a long time ago, sensei," she said uneasily, still not taking her eyes off Naruto.

"You can relax, Sakura. He's not going to attack you."

"Not without reason," Naruto smiled coolly.

"All right, you two. First rule.

"Teammates fight _together_. Not each other. That means we have to learn to get along."

"Well, _that_ is one thing you'll have to teach me," Naruto told him baldly, "Because I never had the chance to learn that one."

"Let's start with some simple sparring.

"Basic taijutsu to measure your skills, and strengths. We'll proceed from there," Kakashi told him. "Sakura. I know the Hokage has been teaching you how to infuse chakra into your own muscles to increase your strength as she does, but try to go easy at first until we can gauge Naruto's actual mastery of the basics."

"Actually," Naruto smiled at her, looking not unlike a fox just then leering at his prey. "You might want to come at me with all you have. I am stronger than I look."

"With, or without your….friend," Kakashi asked him pointedly.

"Actually, Kakashi-sensei," he decided to show respect to the older man. "You cannot use those concepts since we are technically one being, fused as we were all those years ago."

"Fused?"

"Imagine two things melding. Assimilating. Now, imagine those two things actually fusing to become a single, new thing. That is what Kyuubi and I are now," he told him. "The point is, even as I am now, I am far stronger than you realize. And I don't have to summon chakra to become stronger. I simply am stronger."

"All right, Sakura," Kakashi chose not to argue. "Hit him with everything you have."

The girl swallowed hard, and focused as she had been taught, her fists swelling with power as she imagined putting everything she had into the calloused hammer she made of them as she ignored her fear to finally strike out at the thing that had been in her nightmares since that day he had leapt upon her in the forest, using her own kunai to savagely cut out her throat.

Or so her nightmares went of late.

"All right, Naruto," she murmured, setting herself before him. "Take….._this_," she cried, and slammed a hard fist into his gut.

Naruto flew back over thirty feet, smashing through several trees, and ended up in a small ditch he dug out by sliding into the ground so hard and fast the rock and soil had to yield in his wake.

Sakura started to grin.

Until Naruto sat up with the same cocky smirk.

"That's not bad, pink-hair."

"My name is _Sakura_," she screamed, and rushed at him, both fists almost glowing with the power she unleashed, ready to pound him into the earth.

"Sakura," Kakashi cried out in alarm.

"Not bad," Naruto drawled, and caught first one fist, and then the other. "Anyone else, and you might have put them in a hospital for months. Or in a grave.

"But me? It's….not…..enough," he said, and pushing her back, he simply flicked her chin with a forefinger, and sent her flying back to land at Kakashi's feet.

To her credit, she leapt back to her feet, eyes blazing, and for the first time, Naruto saw her real spirit, and her real strength.

"You're not bad," he grinned, and loped toward her. "Ready for some real sparing now," he asked, hands curled into a familiar hook as he prepared a tiger attack.

"Oh, you are _so_ going down," she hissed, and leapt up into a crane defense.

Kakashi cringed, but forced himself to watch as the pair slammed into one another without giving an inch time and again. Trees shuddered, and smaller saplings splintered in their wake, but neither was giving way, and he sighed, and set down on his favorite stump, pulling out a new book he had recently purchased as he listened and watched while chuckling at the latest antics of his hapless heroine who never failed to loose her clothing in a crisis.

"That old man really didn't teach you much. Did he," Naruto taunted as he parried her best blows with uncanny ease, and seemed to anticipate every move she was about to make before she could even think of it.

"He's taught me a great deal," she spat back at him, and tried to hook his ankle to at least slow him down while feinting with a left elbow to pull off the move.

He leapt straight up, over fifteen feet into the air, and somersaulted over her head to land behind her before she could blink.

"Tag. You're it," he grinned, tapping her shoulder.

And froze.

For an instant, he was someplace else, remembering a game he was watching, but not allowed to play. By the time he recovered from the sudden flash of memory, Sakura had spun around to drive a hard knee into his groin. Even fox-demons didn't like that one.

His howl turned into a snarl, and bent slightly, before rising up into a pounce that drove her to the ground beneath him. She froze as she lay sprawled before him, eyes wide as he snarled furiously at her, and then….

Leaned down and licked her right cheek put to her temple.

He smacked his lips, cocking his head, and then laughed.

"You. I _do_ remember you," he grinned, and licked her again.

"Eewwww, what are you doing," she protested, trying to push him off her when she realized he wasn't about to make her nightmare come true.

"_She tastes gooooooood_," the fox almost purred. "_Let's mate with _her!"

That woke Naruto up.

"_No_," he snarled at his mental doppelganger. "_We stick to the plan_."

"You aren't bad, pink-hair," he finally told her, rising to sit up atop her. "With a little practice, you might even be good."

She flamed furiously as Kakashi chose that moment to show up where their battle had carried them well past the training grounds into the forest, and looked down at her.

"So, what is this lesson supposed to be," the ninja asked her pointedly with a hint of mirth in his tone, and in his visible eye.

"Kakashi," she moaned as Naruto grinned, and rose to stand looking down at her before actually offering her his hand.

"I'd say you two were pretty well matched," he told Naruto as he looked around the damaged forest.

"She's not too bad," Naruto added even as he spotted witnesses gaping at them.

"Oh, Asuma," he nodded at the other sensei as Ino, Chouji, and Shikamaru just stared at the pair of them. "Sorry. We didn't mean to break up your practice.

"We were just feeling out Naruto's taijutsu skills."

"I'm sure if he got any better, we'd not have any forest left," Ino exclaimed. "But when did billboard brow get so strong," she demanded of Sakura. "I didn't realize you could even move like that."

"I _am_ the lady-Hokage's apprentice," she shot back. "And unlike some people, I pay attention to my mentor."

"Ladies," Asuma cut in. "Let's try to remember that we are comrades.

"Decorum, please."

Both girls glared heatedly at one another, though they did fall silent.

"So, how is your squad doing," Kakashi asked, eyeing the trio standing around their grizzled sensei.

"Not bad. It's getting them motivated that is hard."

Kakashi sighed. "Mine started out well motivated, but….."

"I know what you mean," the bearded ninja grinned as he reached for a fresh smoke.

"Well, sorry to intrude," Kakashi saluted them. "We'll just head back, and leave you to your own training."

"One thing's for certain," Chouji remarked as they walked away, only Naruto's sensitive ears picking up the comment. "If he can go toe-to-toe with Sakura when she's pissed, he's got to be strong."

"Or stupid," Shikamaru drawled, though he not yet said anything about the mission, or how it had gone once outside the Hokage's office. Even he knew some things were not meant to be shared.

Finding those dead sound nin was bad enough. Watching someone so seemingly innocuous plow through the strongest and best of your friends was downright scary. Knowing that someone was now standing there staring at you as if possibly planning to use you for his next massacre did not help.

"Says the world's laziest man to the world's….."

"Hey," Chouji glanced back at her, his glance foreboding.

"Hungriest," Ino smiled innocently.

"One day, Ino," Chouji growled. "One day."

_**N**_

Sakura literally limped back to her home that night. Her parents thought she had been on a mission, she was so banged up, but in fact, she had only spent the rest of that day sparring lightly with Naruto.

At first, she felt he was equal to her. Or close to it. But as time went on, and she began to tire, she realized what Kakashi must have already guessed.

Naruto was toying with her. He was holding himself back to keep from really hurting her.

The whole time, even when she took that low blow to his, ah….pride, he had just toyed with her. She remembered that nightmare, and the overwhelming shadow that rose over her, and shuddered for reasons beyond fear as she recalled him straddling her body, and licking her like…..like an animal.

The sudden gleam in his eyes as he looked down at her before Kakashi reappeared had made her wonder what was in his mind. She didn't even consider the obvious. After Sasuke, and the lack of interest in general from the guys that followed overly endowed _cows_ like Ino, her inexperience had her severely lacking in self esteem, or realizing she might not even have any sexual appeal to others.

Until Naruto licked her.

She said nothing to her parents, who were used to her brooding spells, and ate quickly before she took a hot bath, and used her medical jutsu to heal her bruises and aching muscles so she could at least get a decent night's sleep. She had the feeling she was going to need it.

_**N**_

"Well," Mizuki asked as he met Naruto that night. "Have you thought of what I asked?"

"Yes. I have."

Mizuki smiled. "And….?"

"Is this what you want," he asked, holding up a scroll they both knew was part of the Hokage's secret library. A library filled with powerful jutsus and forbidden knowledge not meant for the common public.

"Yes. With this, we can….."

"_We_ can….. what," Naruto asked, tucking the scroll under his left arm.

"Naruto, think," Mizuki told him. "You owe these people no loyalty. They have spurned you. Almost drove you to your grave once. Do you think they won't turn on you again once your usefulness is over and done?

"Follow me to Lord Orochimaru, and I can promise you power like nothing you've yet to know. The secrets, and the rewards he offers his loyal followers are….without measure."

Naruto eyed the ninja, and seemed to think on it. "You're probably right. They will likely turn on me again. If I give them the chance. They are still afraid of me, after all. Even now that I'm trying to prove I am still part of Konoha, they still turn away, and drag their children out of my way when I walk down the street."

"You see?"

"The thing is, I'm not that scared, lonely little boy any longer," Naruto told him with a feral gleam in his eyes. "I don't need you, Konoha, or even your precious Snake-lord. If anything. You are all begging _my_ favors. _My_ power. _My_ aid and support. It's….comical, really.

"That said, I guess you are probably wondering why I stole the scroll for you anyway."

"Well…."

"The thing is. I didn't. Steal it, that is."

"That is right," Tsunade said as she came out of the darkness to stand behind the blonde newly made ninja. "I handed it over to him."

"I wanted to see if you, who had everything most men would kill for, would really just throw it away for the empty promises of a snake like Orochimaru," Naruto growled.

"You….betrayed me," Mizuki frowned at him. "Me?" "Take him," Tsunade ordered, and a half dozen Anbu were on the ninja instructor before he could move.

"We're at a precarious point in our defenses, Mizuki," she told him. "Naruto convinced me that playing games with you was not worth the risk. Take him to the prison. Let him learn the lesson that all traitors learn inside those stone walls."

"This isn't over, demon," Mizuki shouted as he was literally dragged away. "I'll be back. And I'll be stronger than ever. You'll see!"

"Would you like to sleep at my place tonight," Tsunade asked him as Naruto watched the ninja vanish with his captors. "Or are you going back to the forest again?"

"Well, I'm not really sleepy," he admitted. "But, I wouldn't mind….just talking."

"You want to talk?"

"Yes."

"With me?"

"I like you, old woman," he smiled at her.

"I swear, if you compare me to a mother," she grumbled, holding up a fist.

"No, no," he laughed. "Actually, I was thinking you're more like a……Friend," he said, winking at her as she snorted at his claim.

"Yeah. Right."

"I'm serious," he told her in a sincere tone. "Everyone here has been tiptoeing around me, testing me. Sounding me out. Wanting something, or looking for some sign I'm about to explode, and tear them apart. You're the only one that will look me in the eye, and talk to me. Well, except for Hinata, but she's been busy, I'm told."

"That's right.

"She is not only a Leaf shinobi, after all, but she is also the Hyuuga heiress, and has certain duties to her Clan."

"I see," he murmured, thinking of Hinata in that role just didn't seem to fit her.

"Still want to talk," she asked as she led him toward her tower, her personal guard hidden in the shadows, moving only as she moved. Not that there were many that could match Tsunade for raw power either. She had not earned her place as one of the three legendary sanine by being an easy mark.

"Sure."

"Well, then, let's go."

_**N**_

Sakura almost groaned when she found Naruto standing beside Kakashi's stump. Her sensei was, predictably, nowhere to be seen. Predictably, Kiba was off on some solo mission again, too.

Much as she wanted to improve, she hoped they weren't going to have another day of sparring like yesterday. Even after a deep sleep, and her own healing jutsu, she was still aching in places she didn't want to think about.

"Good morning, pink-hair," he grinned at her, winking as he addressed her.

"Aren't you clever," she drawled coldly.

"Sometimes.

"You know, Kyuubi was just wondering. Is that your real hair color? He was just wondering if your woman's curls are the same….."

"That none of his….._your_ business," she hissed between clenched teeth.

"It could be," he grinned.

"What," she squeaked.

"Well, the old woman….Lady Tsunade, that is, said you don't have a beau. That you pretty much bury yourself in your work."

"What does that have to do with….?

"Wait. You were talking about me? With Lady Tsunade," she frowned.

"I was curious," he shrugged.

"Don't be," she grumbled.

"Too late. Besides, you taste good."

"I….what," she choked.

Naruto licked his lips. Then winked.

Sakura paled. Then blushed furiously. Then paled again.

"I can't believe….."

"Playtime is over," Kakashi told them as he joined them at that instant. "We have a mission."

"We do," Sakura asked.

"With Naruto, we're an official squad again," Kakashi told her.

"What about Kiba? I thought we usually had to have….?" "Jiraiya is joining us en route," he told Sakura with a sidelong glance at Naruto. "This is serious," he told them. "So go pack for a two week journey, and be ready to move fast.

"Naruto, if you need anything," he asked as Sakura nodded, and took off to gather her gear, noting the young man still wore his dark garb, and nothing else.

"No. I can pretty much find anything I need along the way," he told him.

"All the same, you might want to get a few provisions. If you need money….."

"I don't need anything," he told him again firmly. "Remember. I've survived out there longer than most of these genin have been playing ninja. I'll manage."

"All right. One thing, though. Lady Tsunade asked me to ask that you please not injure Master Jiraiya. He's a peculiar sort, but he's one of our stronger ninja, and we'll need him not only for this mission, but to help protect the village."

"Fine. If I can overlook your pink-haired bi….girl's manners, I can overlook that old fossil."

Then he laughed.

"Naruto," Kakashi frowned.

"Sorry. Kyuubi reminded me that compared to him, that old fossil is a silly child."

"Right," the ninja murmured.

_**N**_

"So, what is this mission," Sakura asked, Naruto having shown no curiosity as he seemed content to just follow them.

"Three days ago, a rogue ninja from the Sand Village killed four commoners, and fled this way."

"Isn't that a job for the local authorities?"

"Usually, yes," he told her. "But this ninja was from the Sand. A jinchuriki. It sounds like Gaara is back after all."

"Oh, no," Sakura gasped. "He almost killed fifty people the last time he showed up. Only Sasuke drove him off, and even then, Gaara still almost killed us both."

"Then Sasuke was an idiot," Naruto muttered.

"You don't know Gaara," Sakura told him.

"No. I don't. I do know Shukaku, though. The One-Tail has been a pain in our side for….

"Well, a long time. He's obviously forgotten his place in the order of things," Naruto growled even more convincingly as his eyes glowed brighter red than before. Now, Kakashi, why not tell us why you really dragged us after him," Naruto drawled after all eyes fell on him.

"First of all, the new Kazegake of the Sand wants Gaara neutralized, and offered his whereabouts as a gesture of goodwill to the Leaf," he stated blandly.

"And as to the four men he killed. They were Leaf envoys trying to arrange an alliance to build a stronger front against Orochimaru.

"On the surface, it looks like Gaara is just raging again.

"Lady Tsunade fears that he might actually still be an agent for Orochimaru."

"That does make more sense," Naruto nodded. "But if he's coming this way, and not actually headed for the Leaf…."

"That is where Jiraiya is now. Trying to track him. It could be Orochimaru has spies in this area, and if he can find their nest, we going to take out not only Gaara, but anyone that is based in this region."

"Not to mention, testing your new weapon," Naruto asked practically.

"Of course," he nodded.

"Naruto," Sakura asked quietly. "Do you really think you can handle Gaara? And his demon?"

Naruto smiled at her. "She hasn't had much training in the ways of kami, has she?"

"It's not been that necessary up to this point. Since most of the jinchuriki were slain a few years ago."

"Their hosts, maybe. But the kami are immortal. They'll be back."

"Yes," Kakashi nodded. "Hopefully in a less hostile fashion."

"That depends on who summons them," Naruto shrugged. "Men do seem to enjoy killing one another for stupid reasons."

"And kami?"

He looked at Sakura.

"Kami kill for one reason, and one reason only when left to their own devices."

"And what is that," Sakura asked.

"Survival. Every kami knows its place in the world of spirits. Shukaku is called the One-tail, but there are many one-tails. He just happens to be the most powerful of them at this point."

"And you….are host for the nine-tails?"

"Actually, Kyuubi is _the_ nine-tails. Greatest of all kami. Shukaku should be pissing himself, and running the other way if he realizes we are here. That he is not tells me he is likely working for another. Or forgotten his place. I suppose I'll have to remind him of the folly of either circumstance."

"You make it sound so….easy."

"Sakura. The last time kami fought in human memory, the Great South Sea was carved out," Kakashi told her quietly.

"You mean, they deepened the sea," she asked her sensei with a frown, astonished at the very idea those words implied.

"No. They dug it out. The South Sea used to be a mountainous plateau that rose out of the ocean."

"It wasn't….you," Sakura asked him. "I mean, that other you?"

"That was the day I earned my ninth tail," Naruto grinned smugly, proving he really did identify himself as the nine-tails.

"Uhm….Just don't make any new oceans this time. Please," she asked.

Naruto only smiled.

Kakashi said nothing.

_To Be Continued…….._


	3. Chapter 3

_I do not own Masashi-San's very entertaining characters, nor using them for profit or illegal ventures. I'm just borrowing them for a story of my own._

_**Naruto: Another Tale**_

_**By LJ58**_

**Part 3:**

"The old man is here."

"What old man," Jiraiya muttered as he walked into the camp.

"That would be you, Jiraiya," Kakashi beamed smugly. "I've been elevated to sensei."

"Joy," the white-haired sanine muttered as he glared at Naruto.

"So, what did you find?"

"Twenty snake ninja in a hidden, underground base just this side of the river cliffs," the young blonde told Kakashi.

"And Gaara is definitely with them. I overheard them planning strikes against anyone who had signed the alliance treaties the envoys were carrying back with them."

"So, the Snake isn't with them?"

"No. I got the impression he wasn't expected either."

"How do you think we should handle it," Kakashi asked.

"You go in, kill the ninja, and take the treaties back. I'll deal with Gaara," Naruto told them.

"Now, hold on," Jiraiya told him. "This is more complicated than….."

He was talking to empty air. Naruto was gone.

"That…..That…..kid," he hissed.

"He's right. We have to get those treaties back, and we can't leave our allies exposed to Orochimaru's mercies," Kakashi pointed out.

"Then let's go," Sakura said, rising from where she had been sitting and listening to them. "Because I rather doubt Naruto is going to wait on us."

_**N**_

"Shukaku," Naruto shouted at the mouth of a large cavernous tunnel. "Come out and face me, you shambling pile of sand."

Two ninja emerged, gaping at the sight of the single, apparently unarmed youth, and started to palm kunai even as Gaara, a lean, sallow-eyed young man not much older than Naruto appeared between them.

"Leave him to me," came the rasping slur of a voice that was an echo of the creature within him.

"It's been years, One-Tail."

"Do I know you," Gaara demanded, his cold, empty eyes sharp with rage as he walked directly toward the blonde.

"Look closer, sandy," he drawled insolently. "Surely you've not gone blind, too?"

"Kyuubi," Gaara hissed, hesitating as he stopped not ten feet from Naruto.

"Want to do this hard? Or easy," he demanded of the former sand nin now on the run from his own village.

The young man shook his head. "I don't want to fight you, Nine-Tails. We're brothers. We're….family. Family shouldn't fight. Shouldn't….fight."

"You've been abusing your host, sand spirit," Kyuubi growled as Naruto glared at him. "He seems a bit spent to me. And he's probably going mad."

"Spent? Mad? I'll show you mad," Gaara howled, and a hailstorm of sand flowed like water through the air to surround Naruto, encasing him to his neck.

"Any last words before I send you back to the spirit world, Nine-tails," Gaara roared as he extended a hand outward in a curious manner.

"Oh, no," Sakura hissed from cover as she watched the jutsu that had almost crippled Lee not long ago. Not to mention almost killing her and Sasuke. Kakashi put a hand on her shoulder, and gestured, forcing her to focus on their own side of the mission.

"Yes," Naruto was saying as they crept up on the ninja watching what they thought an easy kill. "You're still an idiot."

Gaara screamed as Naruto seemed to swell, and fiery chakra exploded out of him to send the sand flying in all directions, so superheated it became shards of glass, and useless for Gaara's jutsu.

"No. You can't……!"

"You ended up with a bad host this time, Shukaku," he told the sand demon as he leapt forward, hands raised. "Better luck next time," he said, and simply dropped a hard fist on the most feared shinobi in the region.

Gaara, and the remaining sand, dropped as one.

Sakura gaped, then focused on her own target, and leapt out at the ninja before her as Kakashi took out the other guard.

She heard something behind her, but didn't dare look back as she smashed the sound ninja's head into the rocky wall behind him with slightly more force than necessary just to be sure. These guys, she had already seen by the dead they left behind, weren't playing games.

Kakashi nodded at her, and together they stepped into the darkness inside the cavern.

When they returned twenty minutes later, Jiraiya having joined them, and carrying a thick roll of papers and scrolls taken from the enemy, Naruto was sitting cross-legged before Gaara, who was sipping tea from the small pot that had been produced as they talked quietly to one another.

"….That was when I chose to follow my own path," Naruto was telling him, having come across an idea that impulsively occurred to him on how to use the sand demon for his own purposes. "I know it's easy to get confused, and get caught up in the games that men are playing around you, and with you, but in the end, it's still your choice.

"Your life. Even a jinchuriki should have some dignity to his life."

"I felt a lot of the other's die. When those….devils ripped their kami out of their hosts," Gaara admitted. "I feared sleep even more after that. Thinking that if I did, I would wake up in their hands, and end up in their power."

"You mean the Ataksuki? Kyuubi and I took care of those clowns months ago. Forget them. And forget Orochimaru, too. He is only using you."

"I know that. But….where else can I go?"

"Back to your village," Naruto smiled, continuing with his impulsive plan.

"Why," he muttered darkly, setting his cup aside as he noted the others arriving to stand near Naruto, their fear palpable in spite of the innocuous situation before them.

"Because they are your people," he remarked with remarkable sincerity, using the same inane argument the old woman used on him though he was still fleshing out his plans, but knowing he had to say certain things to put forth the impression he wanted. Especially in the presence of the two ninja who were coming up behind him. "And if you give them a chance, maybe they will give you a chance, too."

Gaara only hummed thoughtfully.

"That said, Kakashi-sensei," he remarked as he said to the copy-nin, "Isn't the Land of Sand one of those the envoys had yet to visit," he asked, turning to eye the making ninja, proving he had known he was there behind him all along. He simply ignored Sakura. She was still unimportant in his mind at the moment. More a nuisance than anything else as yet, though he might just be able to use her, too. First, he had to see if the rest of the pieces fell into place.

"Yes," the man nodded as Jiraiya frowned at the two jinchuriki now speaking so casually when they had been at one another's throats not long ago.

"So, what if we went to the kazekage ourselves, and offered a truce, as well as an alliance in the person of Gaara that would not only symbolize our new truce, but restore a powerful defender to their ranks?"

"You….You would do that for me," Gaara asked Naruto.

"Isn't that what family does for one another," Naruto told him, nodding toward the confused young man with hollow eyes. "Just try to remember your place this time, One-Tail."

Gaara blinked, then smiled. "You are….a most unusual man, Naruto Uzumaki."

"So I've been told," he agreed. "So, do we have a deal?" "If the kazekage will agree, I will go with you, and be the seal on our alliance."

"Good," Naruto nodded, "Then everything is settled.

"I take it you managed the rest of the rabble inside?" "They weren't much," Kakashi drawled as Naruto turned to speak to him again. "I think they relied heavily on Gaara to protect them. Most of them were barely ranked above chunin."

"Orochimaru must be running out of dupes by now," Naruto sniggered.

"Or he's holding his jonin back for something big," Jiraiya pointed out as he spoke up.

"That could be it," Kakashi agreed.

"Much as I'd like to argue, old man, that makes sense," Naruto agreed, too.

"I'm so glad you think I have a good idea now and then," the toad sage drawled. "So…."

"Tomorrow we head for the Land of Sand," Naruto cut him off. "Old man, you take the other treaties that were already signed back to the Hokage, and tell her what is happening. We'll rejoin you as soon as possible."

"Now, wait one moment…."

"It's a good plan, Jiraiya. We have to get these other alliances formally sealed, and we need to alert the Hokage to what is going on out here," Kakashi stopped him, well aware of Naruto's underlying disdain for the older man that might go against him. Or all of them if Naruto were pushed too far too soon.

Jiraiya seemed to catch on to his tone.

"Fine. I'll play messenger. Again. Why I came back for this, I'll never know," he muttered, and walked off into the darkness leaving a single sheet of curled parchment to drift down onto Naruto's lap. It was the offer of an alliance with Konoha, the Hokage's seal already on it.

"We leave at first light," Kakashi told his companions. "So let's return to camp, and get some rest."

"You're the one I fought before," Gaara recalled as he spoke to Sakura on the way to the camp. "With the Uchiha."

"Yes. Although, I didn't really do much," she remarked quietly.

"I am glad you were not hurt."

"Thanks," she murmured, surprised at the way he looked at her. Like a child wanting to be reassured.

"What happened to….?"

"Sasuke's dead," she told him, guessing what he asked when he faltered as he made a gesture.

"I see. Did the injuries I caused…..?"

"No," Naruto cut in. "_I_ killed him."

Gaara looked at him in surprise.

Then saw something in that cool gaze Sakura had yet to see, and said, "I see."

Naruto did not smile.

That night, despite not being sleepy, Naruto lay between Gaara and Sakura.

Sakura, still unnerved over the need to kill so ruthlessly, never noticed. Her conscience yet warred with herself, and missed the two jinchuriki that were far from sleeping, and simply stared at one another with cold, steady gazes.

_**N**_

"He's what," Tsunade exclaimed as Kakashi's squad finally returned to the village with the treaty, and a guest.

Gaara is now the kazekage of the Sand," Kakashi nodded.

"And he has signed an alliance, and promises loyalty to Konoha henceforth, and most especially in the fight against Orochimaru."

"Well. I sent you out to try to salvage our alliances, but I never expected this," Tsunade admitted, looking up from the treaty, and studying the blonde Tamari.

"It rather surprised me, too," she told the Hokage. "I suppose Gaara saw more than anyone thought."

"Apparently. But I think Shikamaru is the one that is really going to be surprised."

"Won't he, though," the girl sent to marry a Leaf ninja to seal the treaty between them grinned.

She had actually mooned over having to fight Shikamaru in earnest after the Chunin exams, finding him to be a surprisingly intelligent, and appealing young man. Something that was rare for her to admit about anyone.

She was almost glad they had been repelled from Konoha, and that Shikamaru had been spared the death that befell so many others. She didn't doubt he had not fought bravely, even if he had the habit of being overly indolent from what she could tell from their own exchange during the exams. He had actually beaten her. Her. And then at the end, he just gave up, and handed her the victory.

His "_What a drag_," still echoing in her ears.

Then there were his many disparaging comments about women in general.

Still, there was something quite appealing about him.

She smiled, and thought of facing him before a priest.

Tamari wondered what he was going to have to say about this when he was told?

_**N**_

"Are you out of your mind," he told the Hokage bluntly when told was expected of him.

His mother slapped him in the back of his head.

His father only chortled.

"As I said," Tsunade repeated as if he had said a word as Tamari smiled at him. And his expression after his mother's 'chiding.' "It is a great honor, and will bind the Leaf and Sand closer than ever before.

"I am sure you have many questions, but we have to be quick. The new Kazekage will be here in a week's time to attend the wedding, and everything has to be ready."

"It will be," Shikamaru's mother beamed, her expression evident that she felt her son, and her house, was being greatly honored.

"And maybe this will be the motivation my son's been needing to finally get his life on track," she added as she smiled at her son.

Who groaned, and shook his head.

"Man," he murmured. "What a….."

His mother slapped him in the back of his head again.

"Mom," he complained.

"Sit up, and pay your proper respects. It's not everyday you get engaged."

For once, Shikamaru had absolutely nothing to say.

_**N**_

Sakura did not leave her house.

Or her room.

Or her bed.

She was, she had to admit, hiding.

Two weeks ago they had been at the Sand village, and been caught up in the surprisingly happy celebration of the return of their leader's only son. The old kazekage had been murdered by Orochimaru. A temporary had been conscripted, but they were all looking for Gaara, and hoping he would return soon. When he did, they immediately welcomed him, promoted him, and welcomed his 'friends.' In the four days of celebration that followed, she learned that she could not stomach saki.

The next morning after too much to drink, she learned she was no longer a virgin.

She knew it, because she woke to find bright, blue eyes flecked with red staring at her from across her own pillow. Even now, two weeks later, she could not get the image of the raw, frantic coupling she had allowed herself to perform with Naruto out of her head. In spite of the fact she had drank far too much saki, she still had a perfectly vivid recall of every second of that night.

The very long, very sweaty, very blissful night.

They had not made love. She knew that much.

They had rutted.

Like beasts.

At one point, she remembered with alarming clarity, he had even taken her like a beast. And she had let him. Thrusting her shapely, muscular ass back to take every inch of his powerful shaft into her….

Sakura groaned, and shook her head violently as she sat up on the bed, and stared balefully at her own toes.

Toes.

He had even licked her toes.

Teasing her from head to toe as he possessed her as she had never been possessed.

Even her fantasies of Sasuke had never been so intense.

She had to admit it, she realized as she forced herself to get to her feet, and dress far later than usual. She was, strangely enough, in love with Naruto. And in spite of every instinct that told her to run far, and run fast, she wanted to be with him again.

And again.

Sighing, and moaning, she felt that panicked part of her recede as she mentally surrendered to a new side of her personality. One that had definitely enjoyed being used like a _bitch in heat_.

Dressing, and preparing herself as if everything were normal, she went out to find out what was happening about her while she had hid in bed all morning trying to reorder her thoughts. She wasn't surprised to find everyone was getting ready for the wedding of Shikamaru to Tamari of the Sand. She had helped escort that smug, arrogant kunoichi back, after all. She was surprised, however, to find that everyone seemed quite happy about the entire affair.

Well, except for Shikamaru, whom she found hiding at the ramen shop, staring into an untouched bowl of cooling noodles.

"What do I know about being a husband," he complained to Kiba and Chouji as she approached.

"It's easy," Chouji told him. "Just do what your dad does, and everything will be fine."

"Dad hides a lot," Shikamaru admitted. "When he can't hide, he says '_Yes, dear_,' a lot."

"Yep. Sounds like my dad," Kiba grinned.

"Hey, Sakura," Kiba grinned at her. "We wondered where you were at. So, what do you think about Tamari?" Sakura noticed Shikamaru's eyes were on her, as if seeking something he couldn't or wouldn't dare voice. Clearing her throat, she sat down with them, and said, "Well, I think Tamari is a very competent ninja, and a pretty tough woman. Frankly, I think she's the kind a man should be grateful to marry, because she's the kind to stand at his side against anything they might face."

"Great," Shikamaru muttered. "It's official. There's a conspiracy going on to get me married."

"Come on, buddy," Kiba laughed. "It's going to be great."

"Yeah. You get a live-in cook, and all the sex you can ever want," Chouji grinned, although from his tone it was clear the former was all he was considering.

"You guys make marriage sound _so_ attractive," Sakura muttered bleakly, and ordered a diet plate for her lunch since she had missed breakfast.

"That a fact," Kiba grinned at her, and only then did Sakura notice the way he kept eyeing her. "Thinking of marrying yourself, Sakura?"

"What?"

"Don't think we haven't noticed how _close_ you've gotten to Naruto lately."

"You're an idiot. You're all idiots," her temper took over as she gulped her food, dropped a coin on the counter, and stood with a bleak scowl aimed at them.

"You," she pointed to Shikamaru, "Are lucky to get such a fine bride. You will be lucky to find anyone that will tolerate your flea-bitten hide," she told Kiba. "And as for you," she turned on Chouji.

Chouji darkened, his fork slowing as he eyed her suspiciously.

"There is more to life than food. But you won't find it listening to these two idiots."

Then she turned and stalked off.

"Wow," Chouji grinned.

"What got into her," Shikamaru grunted.

"I think you mean _who_ got into her," Kiba sniggered knowingly.

Chouji almost choked as Shikamaru laughed.

_**N**_

"Today isn't a training day," Naruto told her as she walked out onto the field that had been somewhat restored since their departure following their last few days of training. "You didn't have to come out here."

"I….wanted to talk," she told him.

"I can imagine," he nodded, mindful of the plan still forming in his mind as his own spiritual twin guided him toward the path they required. "Sakura, I'm sorry."

"S-Sorry," she choked.

"I didn't know you were virgin. And….I didn't realize how incapacitated you were. By the saki, I mean. I didn't really give you a choice that night, and I do regret that."

"You….do," she squeaked, the moment not going as she thought it would as she sat down before him where he sat cross-legged on the ground beside Kakashi's favorite stump, feeling as if she were about to burst into tears without knowing why.

"Yes," he managed to again sound very sincere, then smiled as he added, "Of course, now I know your hair is natural."

She blushed furiously.

"And I know you really do taste good….everywhere."

She blushed all the more.

"But while I did enjoy that night, and I think you did, too."

"I did," she admitted in a tiny voice.

"I don't, however, think you're ready to go further just yet."

"N-No," she asked.

"And I won't make you. It will be your decision. But….I can offer you something else."

"What is that," she asked as he rose gracefully to his feet.

"Training," he smiled, and offered his hand.

"Training," she echoed.

"A different kind of training. I noticed you were still a little sloppy out in the field as yet."

She blushed again, this time for reasons more professional than personal.

"I don't actually want to see you get hurt. I can show you some things that might help save your life, if you like."

"Well, yes, I would like to learn more than what I have," she admitted.

"You can make shadow clones?"

"One. Yes."

"But is it illusory, or can you make solid clones yet?"

"Oh. Well, no. I can't. I can do illusions, and substitutions, of course, but…. No. I can't make a solid shadow clone."

"It's simple. It's a matter of chakra control, is all. As a medical nin, you have already been studying that in detail, haven't you?" "Yes," she nodded, having taken his hand, and trying to ignore the little frission of delight that went through her at just that light touch when he helped her stand.

"All right. Now, consider this. For stealth, deception, and even espionage, a clone can be invaluable. Watch."

She followed his hand sign, and suddenly found herself surrounded by a dozen Narutos.

"Which of us is the real us," they all asked at once as she spun around, realizing they surrounded her.

"I…..I can't tell. They….You….They're all so real."

"Exactly. Touch me. Any me."

"They are real," she realized as she pushed against one, then another. Then a third.

"Lady Hinata told me of the trouble you had with some water clones not long ago. By learning this jutsu, you also learn the other side of the trick. You can better spot the real threat among a sea of clones, and ignore the diversions to get to the master without wearing yourself out, or being delayed by such a tactic."

"That could be handy," she agreed as all the cloned Narutos vanished into one body again.

"It also teaches you a refined, and concentrated mastery of your chakra," he told her. "Most clone masters make the mistake of _dividing_ their chakra among the clones, exponentially weakening every clone, as well as themselves."

"But….how else could you….?" He smiled. "What I will show you is how to create clones that use the enemies' chakra as their source. Or if necessary, to use the chakra, the life force, of the world around you. Thus, sparing you the drain, and giving your clones extra life."

"I didn't know that was possible," she admitted.

"It takes skill, and practice, but it can be done," he told her.

"Now. Make a clone," he told her. "Don't think about it. Just do it the best you can just now."

Drawing a deep breath, she focused her chakra, and a duplicate of herself appeared before them.

"Now, let me show you something."

He stabbed her clone, and it vanished instantly even before he lowered his kunai he had taken to carrying simply because Kakashi insisted a real ninja carried such implements for more than just killing, and even he might require one someday.

"Ow," she cried, grabbing her chest as she gaped at his action.

"Easy," he told her. "You aren't really hurt.

"In fact, your reaction tells me you are closer to success than you realize," he told her, "Because a true clone will return to its master with _all_ its experiences intact. Knowledge, feelings, even the moment of death if it comes, will fill your mind when the clone vanishes. It makes a good tool for espionage if you know how to use it," he told her. "Sneak a clone in, gather information, and then simply recall it without having to risk a trip back through the enemy lines."

"That is clever," she realized, still rubbing one breast that still throbbed with the 'memory' of being stabbed.

"Don't worry. You get used to the phantom pains, and can disregard them more easily over time. Now, time for another lesson," he told her, and produced another clone of his own.

"Now, stab my clone."

She stared at the two of them.

"Go ahead."

She drew a kunai from her own pouch, and giving him a careful look, drove it into the heart of his clone. He staggered back, clutching his chest where the kunai was still buried, and fell to the ground.

"Oh, no," she cried, and started to rush to his side. "Naruto!"

"Sakura," he told her, grabbing her as the clone on the ground 'died,' and continued to lay there.

"That isn't me. It really is a clone."

"But….?"

"Infused with enough chakra, and the right control, you can even convince your enemy you are _dead. _Seeing the potential yet," he asked as the clone vanished, and her kunai dropped bloodlessly to the ground before her eyes.

"Yes," she grinned, recovering as she realized she had really thought she had mistakenly stabbed him. "That was….incredible," she exclaimed. "Why don't they teach this at the academy?" "They probably do. But only for your black ops, or elite jonin."

"Oh. Well, it would have really helped out on a few missions we've had," she admitted.

"So. Ready to start training in earnest," he asked.

"Yes," she grinned, feeling alive, and eager for the first time that day.

"All right. Shadow-clone jutsu," he smiled at her, baring his teeth.

"Your first lesson, kunoichi," he said as twenty clones surrounded her before walking off in all directions. "Find the real me. And don't be afraid to go all out. Remember, I can take it," every single clone boasted as they burst into the trees at a lope.

"Hey, how am I supposed to know…..?" "Chakra, Sakura," she told herself, and rather than give chase, she stopped, and closed her eyes.

She knew Naruto well enough by now. Truly _knew _him, she reminded herself with a blush as she pushed that image out of her head. So, she should be able to get a lock on his chakra, and…..

"There," she frowned, and turned to her right.

"Only one way to find out," she told herself, and rushed into the forest to start her new training.

_**N**_

"What are they doing now," Kakashi frowned as he and Jiraiya watched from a nearby hilltop, having noticed the students going out on their own despite the day being a rest period after returning from their latest mission.

"I would say the jinchuriki is teaching her advanced shadow-clone techniques," the toad sage murmured somberly. "Very advanced ones, too."

"She's not ready for that," Kakashi frowned.

"I don't think you want to interrupt this, Hatake," he said, putting a restraining hand on his shoulder when the other ninja seemed ready to go after them.

"But if she's injured….?" "I don't think he'll hurt her. In fact, I think he is _flirting_ with her."

"What?"

"You did notice they were obviously _intimate_ while away on that mission? I wasn't even there, but I picked up on it the minute they walked through the gates."

"Sakura? And Naruto? But….I thought he liked Hinata?"

"He's jinchuriki. And male," Jiraiya smiled mirthlessly. "He'd probably turn Konoha into his pack-harem if we let him."

Kakashi shook his head. "I suppose you suspected this might happen all along?"

"From the reports, he was particularly vicious with females that crossed his path in the forest. Enemy nin, or not, I think he was….dissatisfied with them. As if he were seeking someone particular."

"You're kidding?"

"The fact he bedded Sakura, and she wasn't torn into pieces, suggested he found something in her he likes. The fact he's now teasing her, and training her, tells me he's definitely staking a claim."

"Wonderful. Lady Tsunade will never believe this one."

"Yes, she will," Jiraiya told him. "Because we have to warn her that Hinata is probably next. His initial interest might have been sidetracked, but I have little doubt that fox's desire has not ebbed. He will go for her next once Sakura is formally claimed. If she isn't already."

"But if he marries her….?"

"Kakashi, the ways of the kami are not the ways of men. Remember your own training."

"Right," the copy-nin murmured with a dark scowl behind his mask. "So…..He'll cull the women he wants, bedding them each in turn, and then chose an…."

"Alpha mate. The leader of his _pack_."

"And the other women will just…..go along," Kakashi frowned.

There was a curse, and the sound of a flying body from below, and then the forest visibly shook.

"Sounds like he's definitely serious about her," Jiraiya smiled slyly. "Too bad. Your Sakura was a real looker. And as for your question, Hatake. Once a jinchuriki _marks_ you, it's been my experience the marked don't _want _to be with anyone else."

Kakashi frowned.

"Ever. Even if they have to share their lover with a harem, they'll wait, and pant over him like Chouji pants over a barbeque grill."

Kakashi's grimace was genuine.

"And then what," he asked the sanine.

"Honestly? I don't know. No one has ever let a jinchuriki complete such a bonding in my memory. Certainly, no one has ever written of what follows. Presumably, it's not to be desired, though."

"Are you saying….?" "I'm saying, we might have to try to kill them if it comes to that."

"Or you could just trust me, and overlook the fact I happen to enjoy a few women who don't mind my company," a sly voice drawled as both men turned to gape at the blonde ninja in black standing behind them.

Kakashi recovered first, and bluntly asked, "I don't suppose you'll tell us who you're picking, and why? Aside from Sakura and Hinata, that is?"

"At the moment, only them. And, really, I give you my word I mean no harm to you, them, or the village," he said in his sly tone, a faint smile etched across thin lips. "This is for all of us, in fact. Will you trust me on that?"

"Is that Uzumaki talking? Or the Nine-Tails," the toad sage asked curtly.

"Suspicious as ever," Naruto sighed, and shook his head.

"How about a bargain, then, old man.

"You keep your mouth shut about my intentions. And I won't tell them all about _your_ secrets. You old perv."

Jiraiya gaped, and Kakashi frowned as Jiraiya actually went pale, and started shaking his head.

"You cannot mean….?"

"Mushi-Mushi," Naruto cooed, and disappeared with a wink.

"Damned clones," Jiraiya grumbled as Kakashi looked around in confusion.

"What did he mean, Jiraiya?"

"Never mind," the older man grumbled.

"But…."

"Never mind," he scowled. "I….have to go check something," he said, and leapt off into the forest himself.

Kakashi shook his own head.

"Things certainly have gotten interesting about here lately," he sighed, and looked down at the forest where a tree shook violently, and then a Naruto clone appeared as it was flung violently through the air from below to slam into the side of the cliff.

"Nah….ru….toooooo," came a furious bellow from below that suggested the _flirting_ had just gotten serious.

_**N**_

"Do you believe that," Ino asked as she and Lee watched Sakura, naked from the waist up, punch a fist into Naruto that drove him through three trees, and into the side of a cliff.

Lee didn't answer. He was gaping at the small, but firm flesh of a goddess personified before him as he watched the furious kunoichi pull her ruined dress back up to tie in a makeshift fashion. It only served to accent her long, muscular legs all the more.

"I _liked_ this dress," she shouted at the forest.

"So did I," Naruto answered with what sounded like a dozen voices.

One from right behind Ino and Lee.

"Hello, guys," he smiled dryly as they turned at the sound of his answer as Sakura raced out of sight after another clone. "You'll have to pardon us, but we're training right now."

"Today?"

"Well, isn't that why you're here," he asked Ino.

"Actually, we were…well….just walking. Then we heard what sounded like an explosion, and…."

"And then we saw _her_," Lee sighed.

Naruto abruptly grabbed Lee spun him around, and still smiling, growled, "Hands off, bushy-brow."

Lee actually pouted.

"Awwwwhhhh, the story of my life," he moaned. "Such perfection. Such beauty, and ever out of reach. Such exquisite….."

"Lee," Ino slapped him.

"He gets poetic if you let him," Ino told him. "Then he _really_ gets sappy."

Lee sobered instantly.

"Sappy? Expressing the natural appreciation of such wondrous beauty is not sappy. Expressing the wonder and delight of a goddess made flesh is…."

Lee stopped as he realized Naruto was staring very sternly at him.

"I'll stop now," he decided.

"Wise decision. And I'd duck about now."

"Wha….?"

Naruto ducked himself, pulling them both down even as two of his clones flew by, one smashing a small sapling into kindling as the other kept going.

"When I find you, fox-boy," Sakura howled from the forest.

"I suppose I shouldn't have….. Never mind," he grinned as he saw the two gaping visages who looked up to see his mangled clones looking helplessly his way before he released them.

"I've never seen her cut loose like this," Ino whispered as the dull thud of a hard impact came from nearby.

"Oh, this is nothing. She's capable of much more. That's what I want to teach her. To go beyond her limits, and find her true potential."

Which, he knew, was exactly what he wanted. Needed.

"Wait. You are teaching her?"

He nodded at Lee.

"We had a little free time, and she felt like learning something new," he told him.

Which was when Sakura, her dress looking even more torn, ragged, and threadbare in places, came out of the forest to stand in front of them with a mask of utter fury on her face.

"You…. You…..animal," she spat. "You thought that was funny, didn't you," she demanded.

"Yes, I did," he grinned, and to Ino's shock, Sakura snorted, and started to laugh, too.

"Okay. You got me. I got so wound up, I lost track of your clones, and ended up just beating my way through them."

"I noticed," he grinned, and walked around Ino and Lee to tug one dangling stretch of cloth up to keep from having her bare herself again. Not that she wasn't already showing far more leg and skin than usual with her dress ripped and torn as badly as it was now.

"Jerk."

"Admit it," he smiled, gently touching a bruise on her right cheek that faded almost instantly as the healing warmth of his own chakra flowed into her. "You enjoyed every minute of it."

For a moment, the double meaning of his words flooded her mind, and she blushed furiously, making Ino gasp.

"Oh, I can't believe it. Not…? Are you two….?"

"No. Certainly not," Lee answered for the blushing kunoichi. "Sakura is as pure as Spring's first cherry blossom. She is as…."

"Lee," Ino growled, and slapped him again.

"Let me just put it this way," Naruto told them. "If you enjoy the use of your tongues, don't wag them," he told her.

Ino paled, abruptly recalling all that was still said of Naruto, and remembering what she had seen herself since they had found him in the forest.

"Of course not," she said, shaking her head. "We'd never…..do that."

"Good."

"It's all right, Naruto," Sakura assured him, seeing the way her friends looked at her just then. "They are my friends, and they wouldn't gossip about…..comrades."

"Never," Lee agreed, his head bobbing as if on a spring.

"That pleases me," Naruto nodded. "So, shall we continue with the lesson," he asked. "Or would you like to go change first?"

"I think I'd better change. It seems mom was right. It is time to start using full ninja uniforms if training is going to keep going like this," she grimaced.

"Oh, I don't mind. Think of how easily you would distract your opponent if you charged them while your dress fell off."

"Naruto," she howled, and swatted him hard enough to drive him to his knees.

He only grinned as he swatted her parting backside, making her leap several steps before her feet touched the ground again.

"Hurry back. I'll show you what you were doing wrong when you return."

"So…..You are truly training?"

"Shadow-clones, with a good mixture of taijutsu," Naruto nodded at Lee. "I've noticed she is still a bit weak in that area, and needs some help with it."

"Count me in," Lee grinned, giving a big thumb's up. "I am always ready to train, and always ready to help another comrade of the Leaf."

Ino nodded as Naruto looked at her. "Yes, he's serious."

"All right, Lee," he grinned. "Let's see what you have while we wait for Sakura to return."

Kakashi, still watching, groaned as the indomitable Lee came back again and again to be hammered back again and again.

All the time wearing the same, idiotic smile his sensei wore.

"Jeez, Guy," he muttered. "What do you make those poor kids drink to turn them into _that_," he muttered.

Then he remembered Guy was like that, too, and shook his head as he watched over the genin to ensure nothing got out of hand. Still, he'd really like to know what Naruto had on the old sage to shut him down so easily. It had to be interesting, knowing that old letch.

Then he spotted a flash of green, and blinked in surprise as Sakura showed back up wearing a more serious expression, but was also wearing full ninja garb for the first time since he had met her. For a young girl still trying to prove she had a womanly side, she looked very much the grim and somber kunoichi now. Maybe Naruto was onto something with his blunt tactics.

"Alright, Uzumaki," he heard her shout. "Let's do this. And you," she turned on Ino. "One laugh, and you're my next practice dummy."

Ino did not even smirk this time.

Kakashi, however, had to bite his own lip to keep from bursting into laughter at the improbably scene as the four genin began to spar.

Ino was actually worse than Sakura at taijutsu, but Lee and Naruto seemed evenly matched though he could see well enough even without his Sharingan that Naruto was still holding back. Of course, he had seen him shrug off Gaara's lethal sand jutsu like he was stepping from a bath. The young genin's power was still uncharted, and he had the feeling if he had taken out the Ataksuki, then there likely wasn't anyone in the five lands that could face him as an equal.

Perhaps not even Orochimaru.

He wasn't sure why that worried him. Yet it did. A lot.

_**N**_

"I'm surprised to see you here tonight," Jiraiya said as he joined Naruto on the rooftop of the Hokage's building where he sat staring at the four faces of the hokages that looked down from the cliffs overlooking the village. Near the last, a new face was slowly being carved. The face of Tsunade, the Fifth.

"I….like the view."

"You know the Fourth….?" "Was my father. I was just wondering about my mother. Apparently, they never wed."

"No. They didn't have the chance. And he was trying to hide her anyway, since it was a time of war, and danger, and he didn't want enemies using her against him, or the village."

"So, you knew my father and mother?"

"Yes. They were brave, and honorable people. They died protecting this village from our enemies. The Nine-Tails was just the latest that finally beat them."

"_I'm sorry_," a voice murmured from within him. Not that Kybuubi cared one bit about Konoha, but he had come to respect his jinchuriki as much as one like he ever could.

"He didn't have a choice," Naruto told him. "I told you. A Uchiha manipulated him with that damned Sharingan at the time."

"So you said."

"_We_ aren't lying," he growled at the old man that now sat down beside him with a grace that belied his apparent age.

"I believe you. I wonder, though, if that isn't part of why _you_ must have hated Sasuke."

"That, and he was a jerk. Then there is that whole 'spite Orochimaru' thing I've got going."

"Is that why you're really here? Because he'll be coming here next?"

"It's _a_ reason. Not _the_ reason."

"Hinata?"

"Not the way you think, old perv," he chortled with a sidelong glance.

"The fact is, Hinata asked me to follow her. She looked at _me_, and she _asked_ me. She didn't fear me. Didn't threaten me. Didn't try to bribe me. She just asked. She treated me as if I were worthy of such consideration. Do you know how long it has been since anyone treated me like just another man?"

Jiraiya nodded. "Quite a while, I'm guessing."

"Never," he told him curtly. "Not once in my whole, entire life.

"Even when I was at the academy, I had to sneak through town, or risk being beat up by the very villagers now hoping I'll save them even while praying I don't _eat _them."

"So, how did you find out," he asked pointedly.

"C'mon, old man," he laughed at his hangdog expression. "Anyone that knows you knows what a perv you are. Also, a few years ago, some merchant I scared out of my forest dropped a copy of your latest book."

"What did you think," Jiraiya grinned.

"A bit overly trite, with a lot of silly….mostly juvenile humor."

"Hey," he frowned. "That's my livelihood."

"Sorry. Kyuubi thinks they're silly stories, and so do I."

"Says the fox-demon chasing a pink-haired kunoichi around the forest?" Naruto grinned as he considered just what he was doing right under their noses. "Well, she is a lot of fun."

Jiraiya smiled back. "So, what now?

"I'll admit, I'm still a little wary of you, and your other side, but….you are proving yourself, Naruto Uzumaki. And for the sake of your parents' memory, I'll give you the chance to keep proving yourself."

"Thanks, old man," he nodded, looking back up at the Fourth.

"You know, it's funny. I have the memory of him from looking through Kyuubi's eyes, but….seeing him up there….."

"He was a good man. I think he'd be proud of you, Naruto. You should know that."

"Someone is coming," he murmured, having grown silent as his eyes remained fixed on the Fourth's stone face, but his attention focused on the night around them.

"I know."

"Naruto," Neji Hyuuga dropped onto the roof before him with nine other ninja from his uncle's house. "Hinata is missing."

"Let me guess, you think I have her."

"We know you don't. Someone abducted her last night while you were still…..with Sakura."

"Last night," Naruto tensed. "And you are only now getting around to saying something?" "We thought we could find her ourselves," he told him as the house nin tensed, knowing they were no match for him, but ready to sell their lives for their lord's nephew all the same.

"So, if you know I don't have her, why are you here?"

"We tried to track her ourselves," Naruto was told by the somber, young ninja. "Yet even my Byakugan failed in the end. Obviously, someone with powerful genjutsu was involved. Someone that knew how to block my special sight."

"So you came to me?"

"I told my uncle if anyone could track her, I suspected it might be you. I recalled tales that…..the Nine-Tails could track anyone across the world without so much as a scent."

"There is some truth in that," Naruto nodded. "All right. Take me to where she was abducted."

"That is easy. She was taken from her own room. There are signs of a struggle, and her maid was found unconscious. She has yet to wake," he added.

"Obviously genjutsu," Jiraiya nodded. "I'll go alert Lady Tsunade. This might be the start of the attack we've been anticipating."

"Lead on, Hyuuga," Naruto told him, and leapt into the darkness after him before his own nin could follow even as Jiraiya took off toward Tsunade's private quarters.

Ten minutes later, Naruto was looking around a surprisingly Spartan room for an heiress, and noted the unconscious girl in a small cot near Hinata's bed. He walked around, eyeing the chaos where the girl had obviously managed to put up a brief struggle.

"There were four of them," he told Neji who had informed him Lord Hiashi was still out trying to find a lead of his own after finally sending him back to find Naruto. "Very powerful ninja. Still, they didn't take her by surprise."

He knelt, and put his finger in the by then dried spot near a wall. "She wounded one of them," he said, using a nail to scrape at the dried blood, and sniffing, then tasting it.

He immediately spat.

"Snake magic. This is definitely Orochimaru's work," he growled, and walked over to the unconscious maid.

He gestured briefly, then put his forefingers to each temple.

"Wake up, girl," he barked, and the girl's eyes flared wide, and she coughed, and spit out some vile liquid that had apparently been pooled in her throat.

"Tell us what happened," he ordered as he knelt before the girl that was obviously terrified as she recovered her wits.

"M-M-Monsters," the young girl whined. "Lady Hinata was getting ready for bed, and….and monsters came right through the walls. She fought, but….they were so….."

"Snake ninja," Neji agreed. "It will be hard to find them."

"No. I know where they are going. Now, Hyuuga, _you_ follow me, if you can."

Neji quickly ordered someone to tend the maid until the Hokage's arrival, and to stay away from the suspiciously oily fluid she had spit up.

"Head due north," Naruto told him when the ninja joined him outside on the roof as he continued to make intricate signs. "You'll probably catch up to us somewhere in the Gray Woods' region."

"Catch up," Neji frowned even Naruto snarled, "_Wind-Shadow_," and simply vanished.

There was a faint breeze, and then he was simply…..gone.

"Ancestors," a ninja murmured as five of them joined Neji. "What manner of jutsu is that," he croaked.

"I have no idea," Neji admitted. "We're heading due north. Follow with provisions and backup when you can. I'll take three men now, and we'll try to catch up to the Nine-Tails."

But it was soon evident that Naruto had not just rushed off. He literally had left no trace of his passing. Were he not given a direction, he wouldn't even know where to start looking. What kind of genjutsu did that fox-demon have inside him that he could disappear at will like that?

It unnerved the young ninja.

And he didn't like being unnerved.

"We'll be behind you within ten minutes," the other house ninja told him, and dropped down to relay his orders, and gather provisions as if they had not already come back from a long, fruitless search. Neji didn't reply as he ordered another messenger be sent to his father to let him know what had transpired before he raced off north after Naruto.

_**N**_

"Too bad we can't sample this little slut," a huge man with sticklike hair jutting out in all directions grinned as a thick finger was pressed up between Hinata's bound legs as he knelt before her at the fire where the four ninja had stopped for the night after fleeing from Konoha with their prize.

"You know Lord Orochimaru's orders," the skinnier man with limp, sandy hair, and a hooked nose hissed. "She is his.

"He has decided that if he cannot have the Sharingan, then he will have the Byakugan. And it will be easier taking it from this child, than from that other genin who already poses a formidable threat. Besides which, once he's plucked the secrets from this ripe flesh, you know he will cast her aside like all the others. We'll get our turn at her then. So stop pawing the bitch before you ruin her, and our lord ruins us."

"I just wanted a real virgin for once," the bigger man huffed, his two silent companions merely eyeing one another as they waited for the meat to roast over the fire they had built.

The big man pulled his and from between the nearly naked girl in just a torn bed dress, and sniffed his fingers. "Like honey," he grinned, licking his fingers as the pale girl blushed as she watched him with wide, silver eyes.

"Quit teasing the little kunoichi," the skinny man snapped. "I'm tired of you making her squeal every three seconds. Besides, as I said, you'll get your chance at her soon enough."

"_Not_ gonna happen," a cold snarl came from out of the forest around them.

From all around them.

"Who is it," the big man spat as he lunged to his feet with his companions, surrounding Hinata who had gasped at the sound of that voice.

"We're in the Gray Wood, you idiot. Who do you think it is?"

"The forest demon," the big man snapped as the silent twins moved to form a living wall of flesh around Hinata even as the big man's fists turned hard, and wooden, with deadly, poisoned spikes at his knuckles.

The scrawnier man dropped to all fours, his features twisting mole-like, as his hands turned into elongated paws with long, vicious claws.

"Oh, goody," the snarl laughed. "Fresh meat."

And then a softer voice called out, "Hinata. Close your eyes."

She did, trusting that voice.

She had no sooner done so than the screaming started.

It did not last long.

"It's all right, Hinata," Naruto's voice murmured quietly as she cringed when hands reached out to touch her, checking her for injuries, or enemy genjutsu. "It's me. Open your eyes now. It's over. It's all over."

She opened her eyes, smiling hugely, and the moment her hands were free, she flung herself into his arms. "I knew you'd come. Somehow, I knew you would find me."

"Always, Hinata," he told her, smiling as he stroked her short, dark hair, and felt the soft warmth of her nearly naked body pressed against him.

"What….What happened to….?"

"They are gone, Hinata. That is all that matters," he told her as she saw the spatters of blood all around the simple camp. "Now, come on. Let's get out of here."

"Naruto," she stopped him, still holding onto him.

"Thank you," she smiled, and before he realized her intent, she rose on tiptoe to press her lips to his, giving him a virginal kiss. His blood boiled, and he deepened the kiss, parting her lips with his tongue as he tasted her for the first time, and his hands slid over her barely covered flesh even as Kyuubi's voice hissed, "_Better than good. She is ours. She must be ours."_

"_She damn sure won't be that snake's_," he replied coldly as he forced himself not to take her then and there in spite of the fact that was all they both wanted.

He and Kyuubi, that was. But she was critical to their plans, and for now, had to remain untouched.

"That was….nice," she blushed as she looked up at him, one hand touching her swollen lips.

"_You_ are nice," he told her. "More than nice."

She smiled, and clung to him. "I'd like to do more of that," she told him artlessly.

"So would I," he told her honestly. But not here. It's not the time, or the place. Let's go home," he told her.

"Naruto?"

"Yes, Hinata," he asked, leading her away from the enemy campsite.

"Thank you for coming for me."

"Always, Hinata," he told her as he led her into the forest. "Always."

_**N**_

Just over ten miles away, Neji leaned against a tree he perched in as he caught his breath, his silver eyes wide as he used his Byakugan to spy out the terrain around him. He had spotted the couple almost accidentally.

At the very moment they were wrapped in one another's arms, kissing. His expression turned grim as he studied the area around them, but he didn't see any sign of an enemy ninja. Not one.

Not that he didn't doubt they had been there. He just could not see what had happened to them. He didn't even see a body this time. And that unsettled the already worried ninja more than he already was as he watched Naruto put a protective arm around his cousin as he led her unerringly directly toward him as if he knew he were there.

"What do you see, sir," one of the three ninja with him asked.

"She is safe," he finally said with a soft murmur. "Naruto brings her toward us even now. We'll make a safe camp here so she may rest and recover before we start back in the morning."

"Yes, sir," the man nodded, and dropped to the ground with his two comrades to immediately start making a camp for the returning lady.

Neji knew they had questions.

He had questions. He just wasn't sure he was going to like the answers.

_To Be Continued………_


	4. Chapter 4

I do not own Masashi-San's very entertaining characters, nor using them for profit or illegal ventures. I'm just borrowing them for a story of my own.

_**Naruto: Another Tale**_

_**By LJ58**_

**Part 4:**

"What became of the snake nin," Hiashi demanded of Hinata the day she returned.

"I don't know, father. Naruto called out to me, warning me to close my eyes. I did, and then…..then they started screaming. When they stopped, they were gone, and Naruto was untying me."

"You did not try to see what happened," Neji asked, having heard this story only now, as neither Naruto, or Hinata would speak of it as they had traveled at a more sedate pace returning to the village.

"I trust Naruto," Hinata turned to answer him as she sat pouring tea for her family as if nothing had happened.

"That will be enough. Hinata, you've obviously had a trial, and I want you to stay close to the house, and under guard in case Orochimaru sends more men after you."

"I was in my own room the last time, and wasn't safe there, father," she actually spoke up for one of the rare times in her life. "Besides, I have to train with Guy-sensei today, and my team. And I know Naruto will be watching for any new enemy ninja now that he knows they are after me. I will be just as safe continuing with my regular duties as I would be hiding in this house. So, father," she bowed, "If you will excuse me, I need to change for training."

"She is growing willful," Hiashi frowned as she walked out of the room, her kimono swaying with her every graceful step.

"It's more than that. Before they joined us, I spotted them with my Byakugan, Lord Hyuuga," he told his uncle. "They were kissing. Quite intimately."

"I see," Hiashi murmured. "Thank you for telling me, Neji. I suppose you should be leaving to join your squad, too."

"Yes, Lord Hyuuga," he said, rising to bow to him. "With your leave."

"Go. I've some thinking to do anyway."

_**N **_

"Lady Tsunade," Naruto called out as the woman gasped, and almost dropped the bottle of saki she was slowly emptying as she sat in her chair, staring out the window at the partially finished bust of her on the cliff beyond the Hokage's palace.

"Naruto," she muttered darkly, casting him a cold eye. "Most people knock. Or use the door," she added as he dropped into the room from the window he had just entered.

"I'm inside," he shrugged, leaning back against the sill. "Does it matter that much how I got here?"

"Alright, Naruto," she grumbled. "What do you want?"

"How did you know I wanted anything?"

"You've ignored all my offers of a bed, or anything else, and suddenly you pop in here like a damned kami…. Which you are, obviously, but," she waved her hand dismissively. "What do you want?"

"Hinata."

Tsunade's brows both rose toward her hairline.

"You don't mess around, do you?

"What about Sakura?"

"What about her?"

"I'm not blind. My apprentice has been mooning over you ever since you returned from the Sand Village."

"We're friends. Close friends, but that is all at the moment," he told her blandly.

"Hinata, however, is….special. I want her. And I believe she returns my affection," he added pointedly.

"Lord Hyuuga is bound to object, whatever your feelings."

"That is why I am here. You know that stiff-necked….lord. How might I appease him?"

"Go jump back into the gorge," she suggested with a sigh.

"I'm teasing," she said at his angry scowl. "I'm just saying, it's not going to be easy impressing someone like Lord Hyuuga….."

"With someone like me?

"Doesn't my father's blood count for anything? Or the service I've given this village these past weeks?"

"Some things just aren't that simple. I do know that the Hyuuga heiress is expected to wed by the time she is twenty-one. That's about two years from now. That gives us time to figure out an angle."

"An angle?"

"Well, I suppose even Hiashi Hyuuga has to have a reasonable bone somewhere in his body. And if he hasn't found anyone for her by then, maybe you can….."

"You don't have a clue either," Naruto realized.

"I'm a medical nin playing Hokage, Uzumaki," she sighed, swirling the bottle of saki in her hand. "I haven't had a clue since Jiraiya conned me into coming back to take this position even he didn't want."

"Yet you came."

"Yeah, well, like I said, I felt….loyalty."

"Translation; she lost a brother and a fiancé who shared the same dream, and couldn't turn her back on their memories."

Naruto turned to Jiraiya who stood just outside the window, looking in at them.

"What dream," he asked the man.

"What is it with you people and windows," Tsunade grumbled.

"Hey, we're ninja," Jiraiya grinned.

"And to answer your question," he said to Naruto. "Both of them dreamed of being Hokage, and someday leading the village to a new peace and prosperity. Both died for that dream, too."

"Jiraiya," she hiccupped. "Shut up."

"She doesn't like to show it, but she's really a big softie."

"And you're a big….."

"Perv," Naruto offered as she fumbled for the right word.

"Definitely," she nodded.

"Hey," he protested.

"Get over it. Everyone knows," she slurred as she dropped the emptied saki bottle into a waste can.

"So, what brought you here," Jiraiya chose to turn to Naruto to change the topic before his old friend and new Hokage decided to hurt him.

Badly.

Again.

"He wants Hinata."

"Really? I guessed that, what…oh, four, no….five weeks ago. Just now getting around to business," Jiraiya asked him.

Naruto glared at him now.

"We were trying to figure out how to break the news to Hiashi," Tsunade admitted.

"Elope," the sage grinned.

"You're a big help," she muttered, sliding deeper into her chair as her eyes drooped.

"Well, she's out. You picked a bad night for conversation, Naruto. This is the anniversary of her brother's death. It doesn't help that it was one of Orochimaru's men that killed him."

"I didn't know that," Naruto murmured as he studied the unconscious woman.

"I heard about Hinata's abduction. I was in the Land of Mists when the news reached us."

"You got back fast."

"I think we both travel faster than our peers when we wish," he told him, turning to eye the fading moon that hung like a cradle in the sky.

"So, old man, why are you here?"

"For you. How would you like to help scout out another snake base I think I've found?"

"Lead on, old man," he nodded.

_**N**_

"You want me to what," Hinata gasped as she stared at her father two days later as she entered to join him for breakfast to hear the surprising news.

"It makes perfect sense," Hiashi told her as Neji kept his face blank, and his eyes expressionless.

"I cannot marry him," she protested. "He's my cousin."

"Which is why you will do as I say. Your marriage will not only heal the schism with the branch family at long last, but will also provide our Clan with both an heir, and strong leadership when I pass."

"And you think I cannot do either?"

"Frankly, daughter," he scowled bleakly at her, "Your actions of late have been suspect. You're weaker than you should be, and you even let four nin take you from your own room."

"Father," she protested, trying to frame a defense. "I….I do not love him. I can barely stand him," she admitted as Neji stood nearby, remaining utterly impassive.

"Nevertheless, you will marry in two week's time. I have decided."

She opened her mouth to protest again when the shout came from outside.

"We're under attack," a man cried again. "The Leaf is under attack."

"It would seem the _Snake _has tired of waiting," Neji murmured as he turned, and went toward his own room without looking back at Hinata. He couldn't help but hope one of them ended up dead. He had little wish to marry his mousy cousin either.

He rather liked Ten-Ten, and her brash courageous spirit. He had not yet moved on that regard, since his life was not his own to rule, but he did think he might yet try to make her his woman. Until his uncle's surprising 'solution' reared its ugly head. Hinata, too, jumped to her feet, and casting a last dark glare at her father, she ran for her own room to change.

_**N**_

"Any sign of Naruto or Jiraiya?"

"None," Ibiki told Kakashi as the children and villagers were sent into the caves for the second time that year to hide as a veritable army of sound ninja and their allies boldly rode toward them. In their midst, a lean, yellow-eyed monster that called itself Orochimaru led the host, and Kakahsi had the feeling that this time they were not planning on being subtle, or taking half measures.

This was going to be a true fight for survival.

"Hopefully, they'll pop in and surprise them from behind," Iruka remarked.

"You've seen him fight," Ibiki told Kakashi as the two stood atop the closed gates of the village, looking down at the growing legion of enemy ninja that came within range of a good archer, but stopped as Orochimaru leapt down from his yellow-haired mount that seemed to fit him, and turned his back to the village. "What do you think he'll do?" Kakashi knew who he meant.

"I haven't a clue. He's….unpredictable at best."

"So is Lord Jiraiya," Iruka sighed.

"They'd better show up soon. I have the feeling this is about to start," Tsunade said as she joined them atop the walls just then.

"Lady Hokage, you should be…."

"Iruka," she cut him off. "I've spent my life running away from things. I'm through running. I stopped the day I became your Fifth Hokage. Today, Orochimaru falls," she swore, curling up a hard fist.

"_Believe it_," a strident voice exclaimed as a figure in black and orange appeared beside her. He had changed sometime in the past few days, and now wore a ninja uniform in those stark, distinctive colors that made him stand out, and yet look all the more intimidating.

"I see Orochimaru still likes playing to an audience," Jiraiya drawled as he appeared on her other side.

"I'm glad you two showed up. We're going to need you."

"Kakashi-sensei. Where is Sakura?" "She's at the hospital. She's part of their defenses if they get past us, and try to strike at the wounded. Being a medical nin, too, she was the ideal choice for the job since we couldn't move some of them to the caves."

"Guy's squad is backing her up," Tsunade added when she caught his glance around the walls of the village.

"Okay. Leave the Snake to me," Naruto told her. "You focus on the ninja. You're Ibiki. Right? I'd start with that lot to the right. I think they're about to launch some kind of genjutsu at your genin, and it might panic them."

The scarred ninja didn't hesitate. He nodded, and five of his Anbu followed as they all leapt over the walls, and raced toward the chanting ninja in a tight circle to one side of the ranks of the enemy.

"Okay," Kakashi smiled, and pulled his headband up revealing a blood-red eye. "What now?"

"You've got a Sharingan," Naruto snarled, baring his teeth at him.

"I'm not a Uchiha, in case you're wondering. But you don't have to worry about me, Naruto. I think Orochimaru is about to make his move."

"Not this time," he growled, and leapt over the wall to stride confidently toward the lean, pale ninja master.

Orochimaru stopped, staring toward him as he walked daringly toward him.

"Snake-man," he called out. "Forget your dogs. You're mine. Come, and face me," he snarled as blazing chakra tails lashed out at the men that tried to rush him from the side. Unlike the day he swatted Kiba aside, these men were literally smashed flat against rocks, trees, or the ground itself. They did not get back up.

"Ah, the Nine-Tails. So, the forest demon has left his den, and been tamed by the Leaf. I had my doubts about those rumors, but….then even a fox can't help but sniff after his vixen when the time comes," the rogue ninja giggled.

"Come and face me," he growled, Orochimaru's men backing away after more than a score died without the blonde ninja even actually raising a hand.

He overheard murmurs of the forest-demon, and more than a few men were even backing away as Orochimaru slowly walked toward him.

"Still, guessing you might be here, I brought you a present," he smiled widely, horribly, as he flung the small lump of flesh he had been shaping in his hands until that moment at him. The lump landed at his feet, and began to grow.

And grow, and grow, and grow.

A massively huge, three-headed viper towered over Naruto as the other ninja not yet embattled stared at the monstrous creation that loomed over Naruto.

Naruto simply glared up at the creature, and back at Orochimaru who leapt atop the center head. "Prepare to die, Nine-Tails. Not even you can withstand _my_ genjutsu."

"Ibiki," Naruto called out to the man who had just finished putting an end to the ninja thinking to use some genjutsu against the village. "Fall back, and hold the walls. You don't want to be out here any longer."

Ibiki nodded, and again without a word, raced back to the walls of the village, killing any that followed him and his team back to the walls. Leaping up, he shouted, "We're clear, Uzumaki," as Naruto meanwhile dodged a snake's head that flashed toward him, jaws gaping. "Whatever you're going to do, do it now."

"You got it," he grinned, and even Orochimaru was taken aback when he batted aside that big snake's nearest darting head, and then made a familiar gesture.

"Summoning Jutsu," he shouted just to ensure everyone knew it was him.

And both sides gasped as Naruto then leapt up atop the broad, flat head of the snarling beast that stood well over the snake, and looked down at Orochimaru with blood-red eyes.

"The Nine-Tails," someone shouted from the walls. "It's free! We're doomed!"

"Hold the walls, or we are doomed whoever wins," Tsunade shouted back as Orochimaru's men swarmed forward them as the huge fox lunged for the snake, who now tried to coil around him as Naruto flung a familiar, blue sphere of pure chakra Orochimaru barely managed to duck.

It slammed into the ground behind him, and buried five incautious men in the resulting crater.

"That was the Fourth's jutsu," Kakashi exclaimed as he caught sight of the Rasingan that had been thrown just before he had to turn to dodge an attack, and drive another snake-nin off the walls. Too many were getting over, though, and some were heading toward the village.

"Looks like Guy's team is going to be busy after all," Iruka shouted to him as he leapt past one attacker to balance atop the wall before kicking one down and slashing at another "Go back them up," Tsunade shouted his way without taking her eyes off the big ninja who used ropelike limbs to try to bind her, and neutralize her strength.

She simply pulled his limbs apart, for even he had limits, and her strength was far greater than he had obviously expected.

Outside the walls, the massive fox was now trying to roll atop the snake coiling around it, and when it failed, it began to glow with fiery chakra. Nearby trees burst into flame, the ground was scorched, and even Orochimaru leapt away as his snake was forced to release the writhing, glowing fox who was blistering even its thick scales. Before it released him, however, all three heads sank sharp fangs into the fiery flesh.

And burst into flame for their daring.

Orochimaru howled at the destruction of his creature, and made a more traditional summons that brought a single-headed snake that was obviously almost as half as big as Kybubi.

"Tetso," the big fox growled. "You dare face me on behalf of this pathetic, mortal meat-sack?

Orochimaru glared at the big snake that looked down at him in his usual disdain, but those cold, pitiless eyes showed something even he had never seen before.

Fear.

His greatest ally was afraid.

"Choose your path, viper-king," the fox thundered, his voice making the very air shake as men fought for their lives not far beyond the sweep of his nine, great tails that swept the ground clear like the hand of a great kami come to earth.

The huge snake looked back at the fox, and lowered his head in obvious deference.

Right before he vanished.

"No! I will not be denied," Orochimaru thundered. "This was my day. My victory. I will not be….."

"Annoying flea," Kyuubi grumbled as he stepped on the pale ninja.

His yelp of pain did not go unnoticed by those still defending the walls. Or those trying to take them.

"Infernal demon," the partially crushed ninja howled, and raised his hands to fling a burning jutsu of his own that made even the fox recoil, lifting his massive paw from the pest beneath it.

"I will not be denied," he hissed, his body sliding away despite his broken bones as if he were a snake himself.

"My lord," a voice shouted. "Let me help."

"Kabuto," Kakashi hissed, and longed to leap from the walls at that rogue himself just then.

"Get away," the downed snake lord screeched at Naruto as the blonde leapt down, and stepped between Kabuto and his master.

Kyuubi snarled, and Kabuto, loyal as he was, took the hint.

They had lost dozens of ninja to this demon, and the medical nin had an unsettling idea where most of them had gone after looking into the maw of that huge beast. But how….? How had that mere boy broken the seal that let him summon and control such a demon? It was beyond belief. Yet the boy stood there, one hand on his demon companion's massive foreleg, and looking down at his master with eyes as cold and pitiless as any true kami.

"This isn't over," Orochimaru told him. "If the Fourth couldn't stop me, do you think a mere Jinkchuriki can? You're soft. A Konoha weakling. A….."

"He's yours, Kyuubi," Kabuto heard Naruto snarl in the same voice as the fox, adding to his growing suspicions.

Both shared an identical leer as Orochimaru shrieked as he was snapped up by the heels, bitten in half, and then thrown up in the air before both sides were gulped down like a quick appetizer.

"I told you not to cross me," Naruto snarled, and turned to eye Kabuto.

"You run. You just try to run. We'll bring you down before you get two steps," he snarled at him.

"You aren't jinchuriki," Kabuto realized. "You….You have _become_ the Nine-Tails. You… You are he, and he….?"

"Clever, isn't he," Kyuubi smiled less than warmly. "Can I eat him, too?" "No," Naruto told him. "But anyone else outside the walls that came with the snake is yours. "Take them," he said as men began to scream, and more tried to run.

In vain.

Powerful as some of the sound ninja and their allies were, they were not a match for the hungry Nine-Tails now putting an unbelievably swift end to the invasion. Even as those few that ran managed an escape, Naruto knew they wouldn't get far. Just beyond the forest, Gaara and his friends were waiting to mop up any survivors. He had already suggested that prisoners were unnecessary. Snake-nin were too corrupt, and too evil to risk letting go.

Gaara agreed.

In less than an hour, only a few, broken ninja already inside the gates were left as the Nine-Tails finally vanished from the nearby skyline, and Naruto dragged Kabuto toward the gates where Kakashi waited with Tsunade.

"Impressive," Jiraiya told him quietly as he dropped from the wall to join them. "_Unsettling_, but impressive."

Naruto smiled and shrugged. "It's over, and that is what matters."

"I suppose you can't get much more finished than what happened to that vile snake," Tsunade agreed as Kabuto kept staring at Naruto with wide, fearful eyes.

Kakashi knew he was a tricky, and clever man, and could escape if you gave him a second. Yet he seemed too frightened to even try just now. He didn't know what Naruto had told him, but it had obviously frozen the rogue ninja with genuine terror. Which was saying something considering the man worked all these years with Orochimaru.

"Do you really have him under control," Ibiki asked as he came over to stand with the others, regarding Naruto.

He realized only then that they stood between him and the village. Every one of them were standing as if to keep him from entering the gates that were now opening behind them. Naruto sighed, and his shoulders slumped.

"So, you are safe again. Does this mean you want me to leave again," he asked, looking at them without answering the Anbu ops leader.

"No, Naruto," Tsunade reached out to put a hand on his shoulder. "We just…. We are overwhelmed, and want to thank you. Now, we had best make sure the enemy that slipped past us are accounted for though before we relax."

He smiled. "You can count on me," he said, and started to step forward.

"Lady Hokage," Lee shouted as he ran up the street toward them. "Lady Hokage."

"Lee? What is it?"

"Lady Hinata," he panted. "She….was hurt badly. One of the enemy nin did something that put her to sleep. Sakura is keeping her alive, but just barely. I fear if something does not change, she will not last long. Sakura sent me to fetch you. For you are the Fifth, and a talented medical……nin….ja," Lee murmured as Naruto grabbed Kabuto, who actually wailed, and carried him along with him like a child as he raced for the hospital.

"I'd better go," Tsunade told Ibiki before she turned to follow. "Send out patrols to clear out the forest…."

"Unnecessary, lady," Jiraiya told her. "Gaara is waiting out there for any stragglers that got away. We'll focus on the village, and make sure no one is lurking around to surprise us when we relax."

Ibiki merely nodded, accepting his words, and he and his men vanished into the village to seek out other invaders. He was determined to hear the truth of Naruto Uzumaki, though. For he had lived long enough, and learned enough to know that jinchuriki could not simply summon their kami. It just was not done. Something else was going on. Something that genuinely frightened even him.

_**N**_

"How is she," Naruto demanded as he walked into the hospital where Sakura stood over the pale brunette who had obviously fought quite fiercely from the look of her.

They all had. Outside, bodies of the dead were stacked around the door. All snake-ninja.

"I don't know, Naruto," she told him honestly, using her chakra to keep the young ninja breathing. "Something is shutting down her organs, and every time I try to restart them, another fails. I cannot stop it," she mourned as she realized Kabuto stood behind Naruto.

"He can," he snarled, and shoved the man forward so hard his glasses almost fell from his nose.

"Heal her, snake-lover. Or you will beg for death for _years_ before we give it to you," he told him quite convincingly.

Kabuto believed him.

"I suspect….. Yes," he said, running his right hand over Hinata's face.

"Well," Naruto demanded.

"It is a chakra poison Lord Orochimaru developed. You cannot focus on symptoms. You have to fuel the source of her own chakra to try to overwhelm the poison," he said, putting his hand over her face just above her brows.

His hands glowed bright blue for several minutes, but he finally collapsed.

"I….I don't have enough….chakra," Kabuto admitted.

"Tell me what to do," Naruto growled in what sounded like two voices speaking as one as he made the demand, and stepped forward again as Sakura focused on just keeping the young genin alive long enough to save.

"You….You must focus your chakra….like a stream, and feed it into her primary chakra nodes just behind the eyes. It has to be….a strong flow, but….steady," the exhausted ninja told him. "Or nothing will save her. She will die either way," he grimaced. "It may have already been….too long."

"She'll live," Naruto spat at him, shoving him aside as he raised his hands over her brows. Believe it."

And his chakra, faintly blue, turned slightly crimson as he began to feed her the pure chakra from his fused body and soul he shared with Kyuubi. Kabuto was not the only one that gaped at him as Hiashi, having heard of his daughter's courageous stand, had come to see her himself. He stood behind Naruto, unnoticed, and silent, his right eye bandaged, and his left arm in a sling. Watching.

"Wake up, Lady Hinata," he encouraged her as the chakra continued to flow long after any other man might have been drained. "Wake up now. You promised me another kiss. I want you to keep that promise. Now, wake up," he told her fiercely as Sakura stared at him with a trembling lower lip as tears filled her eyes for more than one reason.

"Naruto," she choked. "I….."

"Na….ru….to," Hinata groaned as her eyes fluttered open. "You….came."

"I told you, Hinata," he smiled happily, his own blue eyes bright with tears as he leaned over to kiss her brow. "Always. I'll _always_ be there for you."

She smiled, and her eyes closed again as she went limp.

"It's okay," Sakura smiled, giving a ragged laugh when Hiashi gasped. "She's only sleeping now. She's been through a lot.

"You should have seen her," she said, her gaze going to Hiashi. "She held off those ninja for almost twenty minutes on her own until one came up from out of the ground behind her."

"What happened to him," Hiashi demanded as Naruto turned to face him. Even he was feeling less than strong just then after pouring out so much of his available chakra.

"Let us just say he is not around for questioning," Lee drawled quietly.

"Good," Naruto told him, and fell flat on his face.

"He's…..out cold," Sakura said as they all looked toward Kabuto.

"Don't look at me. I wouldn't risk touching him for anything after what I've seen."

"What are you saying," Lee asked.

"….cannot believe it," a wounded ninja was saying as others helped him into the hospital just then even as Sakura lifted Naruto onto a nearby stretcher. "He actually summoned the Nine-Tails. I heard of it. Who hasn't? But to _see_ it!"

"Wait," Lee frowned. "Naruto can summon the Nine-Tailed fox," he asked as he looked around at the newcomers starting to bring wounded to the hospital as Tsunade joined them looking as if she had just left her office.

Not a mark on her, and even her tunic was spotless.

"Lee. Guy wants you to help finish sweeping the village."

"Right," he nodded, and raced off without hesitation.

"You men lock this one up."

"Actually, Hokage," Naruto murmured from where he lay, his eyes still closed. "You could use him to help with the wounded. He'll cooperate. Won't you, snake-lover," he asked in a low growl.

"Anything….to help," Kabuto replied, not believing Naruto was helpless for an instant.

Not for an instant.

"But….he's still unconscious," Sakura frowned as she studied him.

"We are, and we aren't," the echoing voice that spoke teased.

"I see," Hiashi said, his left eye flaring, though he flinched to use it. "Just as some have claimed possible, he and the kami have…._fused_. They have actually…. Become….one."

"Yet I saw them together," Tsunade told Lord Hyuuga as he relaxed.

"What you saw…."

"Naughty, naughty, Hyuuga. We all have our secrets," a coy voice growled at him from Naruto's lips.

"Apparently," the man drawled.

"All right, Kabuto," Tsunade told him. "You will help Sakura triage our wounded, and identify any injuries not purely physical. But if you try anything….."

"Then he's ours," Naruto spoke in that eerie, echoing voice again. "Now, be quiet. We want to rest."

And even that voice stilled as they carried him to a room to recover. A room Sakura just happened to place Hinata in as well.

"You'd better let me look at you, too, Hiashi," Tsunade was telling the Hyuuga lord.

"I'm fine. Battered, and half blind, but I'm fine. I've men in worse shape coming in. We had a running battle to even reach the walls just as those snake-nin attacked."

"Then you did _see_….?"

"Yes."

"We're going to need a council meeting after this one," she decided.

He merely nodded.

_**N**_

Naruto stood atop the cliffs looking down at the village when Kakashi appeared beside him, one more shadow in the night.

"I see your problem, now, sensei. You don't have enough chakra to use that thing continually. It's a graft. Not a true Kekkei-Genkai," he had realized.

"It is a graft. The last gift from a dying friend that I let down one time too many," he told him. "I'd give my own life to change that, but….I'm sure even you know that cannot happen. Not even with your genjutsu."

"No. Dead is dead in any realm."

"The council has finished deliberating."

"So, are they going to try to lock me up? Or kill me? Or just run me off?"

"Actually, they're telling everyone you created a genjutsu that only looked like the Nine-Tails to demoralize the snake nin. Tsunade knows you're our village's greatest hope for a peaceful future. She knows, as I do, Naruto, that we owe you our very lives. Certainly, Hinata owes you hers."

"She's…..special," he allowed, even though he had yet to even look at the silver-haired ninja.

"I think even Lord Hyuuga realizes that now."

"Then I guess miracles do happen. But is that enough for him to let me have her without being difficult?"

"Let me tell you everything. While we still have problems, obviously, I thought you would want to know what they have decided concerning your future."

"So? Out with it."

"Lady Tsunade has elevated you to chunin status."

"Really?"

"Also, you'll be allowed to form your own squad. Of course, you'll be expected to lead, and train them. From what I've seen in Sakura's improvements, that should be little trouble. And it's been suggested you take a bride that will further tie you to Konoha, as well."

"There is only one woman…."

"Lord Hiashi himself suggested you wed her, but not as Hyuuga's heiress. Just as a genin. A woman of Konoha."

"I could care less about his precious Clan," he muttered, wondering if he would have to go back into hiding long enough to complete his plans. If so, he was taking his women wiht him. Both of them. "I only want Hinata."

"I think we all know that by now. He has decided to formally dissolve the branch family division, and make his nephew Neji his heir. Even his Clan elders seemed to like that decision."

"They would. He's as stuffy as the rest of those….."

"Also," Kakashi cut him off. "Tsunade wants you to train not only to become jonin in time, but…..to consider becoming the Hokage in due time. Like your father."

"And the rest of the village elders went along with that one," he asked incredulously.

"Actually, that one is just between you, me, Jiraiya, and Tsunade. She felt the others would find out in due time. After all, who better to take her place when he's ready, than the Fourth's own son?"

Naruto laughed.

"You think it's funny," Kakashi asked.

"I was just wondering. When they carve my face up here….? Will it be me, or Kyuubi's?"

He laughed again.

"_He_ suggests it be half and half."

Kakashi laughed, too, and suspected life was not going to be dull anytime soon in Konoha. Not if half of what Ibiki had dragged out of Kabuto were true. Kakashi knew Ibiki was a man that knew how to get the truth out of anyone, too.

"I'd like to see that one myself," the copy-nin told him.

"Just one thing, sensei."

"Yes?"

"If you ever point that Sharingan at me? I'm going to dig it out and make you eat it."

"I'll keep that in mind," he said, thinking the young man was teasing him. Or at least hoping he was.

"Now, why don't you go tell Hinata the good news."

He grinned. "I will. Then I'll go tell Sakura. She's still mine, too, old man. And I think I'll have them both on my team."

"Then you only need one more.

"I know a promising genin that just left the academy. Would you consider him?"

"Maybe. I will look at him, but make no promises."

"He's very good at genjutsu, but a bit weak with taijutsu and ninjitsu.

"His name is Konohamaru. The Third's only surviving grandson."

Naruto paused to look out at the village. "I'll look him up," he nodded, considering how easy they were actually making things for him just when he thought he might just have to find another way to continue his own plans. "After I see my women."

And how he was going to explain _that_ to the village, or his women, Kakashi did not want to know. Besides, he had a new assignment, too.

Tomorrow, he had to take another squad to replace his lost team.

He only hoped they fared better than his last.

But it was a harsh world. A deadly world.

But he supposed it always had been.

If someone like Naruto could keep going despite all he had been through, he couldn't too well just give up either.

But he was going to miss Sakura.

Jiraiya was right.

She was cute. And she had kept life interesting.

_To Be Continued……._


	5. Chapter 5

I do not own Masashi-San's very entertaining characters, nor using them for profit or illegal ventures. I'm just borrowing them for a story of my own.

_**Naruto: Another Tale**_

_**By LJ58**_

**Part 5:**

He slipped though the shadows, his eyes on the target before him the entire time, never loosing sight of his quarry even as he moved from one place to another in a quest to reach striking distance.

Not far now.

Just a few feet.

If he could just manage to get a little closer.

Even as he fumbled at his side for a kunai, he knew he was too late.

Strong hands reached out of the darkness and grabbed him, pulling him back away from his target. "You're dead. Which means, you fail," a voice hissed in his ear as Konohamaru spun around once he was released to stare up at the scarred ninja.

"Aw, c'mon, Iruka-sensei. I got closer than I ever did before," the young ninja candidate huffed, still chafing over being sent back to the academy after someone realized he had cheated.

Just a little.

"Close doesn't count. I would have thought that day you spent with Naruto's team would have taught you that," he told him, reminding the young boy of how awestruck he had been to see Naruto training Sakura and Hinata, whom the unique shinobi was due to wed any day. They had trained so furiously that an entire section of the forest had been cleared by the trio.

Naruto had not even asked Konohamaru his grades, or his lineage. He had simply asked him how skilled he was, and if he was certain he was ready to take on field work. He had answered he was more than ready. Naruto, the village's new hero who had replaced his grandfather in his mind, had simply nodded.

"All right," he pointed out a hillside overlooking training ground nine he favored for reasons of his own. "You stand up there. Today, you watch. Tomorrow, if you think you can stand with us, you will join us."

He still remembered walking away after watching them for just twenty minutes.

Twenty minutes, and he had been struck numb by the sheer power of their combined jutsus as the trio seemed to be earnestly trying to kill one another. And that was training? He didn't even have to feign indecision. He had turned and walked away, asking Iruka-sensei for more training. During the request, he let it slip he might be a bit weak on certain essentials, and that was when it was found he had skipped whole classes. Whole sections, actually, trading on his bloodline, and favors he had accrued to get through the academy faster than anyone else his age.

And now he was back. Starting from day one. It was humiliating, and frustrating, but…..he didn't skip a day. He remembered the day after he had returned, and ran into Naruto again.

"Changed your mind," he had asked him simply.

"Yeah," he blushed, feeling like a child before a man that could allegedly summon the Nine-Tails, and had even beat the Snake that had killed his grandfather. That was one reason he wanted to be with him. To learn from him. Surely if he learned what Naruto knew, then he, too, could become a great shinobi, and an even greater Hokage.

"Don't sulk, Konohamaru," he had told him. "Learn from your mistakes. That is how you improve. In time, even you can stand proudly among Konoha's elite if you just keep the right spirit as you work toward your goal."

"What did I do wrong," he sputtered now, looking up at Iruka as he still remembered Naruto's words, and his confidence that he could make it as a shinobi if he just tried harder.

"You tell me," the sensei drawled, which was one of the things about him that drove the young candidate crazy.

_**N**_

"Have you thought about finding another member to fill the squad's ranks yet," Kakashi asked, using his usual stalling tactic before he went out to examine his own new squad of genin.

Anticipation, pressure, and their own imaginations could take a genuine toll on the young genin, and he wanted to see how they coped waiting for the 'legendary' copy-nin who rarely passed any genin in his care. Most, it was rumored, ended up back in academy classes within a week. Hatake was not as lazy, as some guessed. He just didn't want to throw away lives by taking genin on missions that weren't ready for field work. He felt weeding them out beforehand was better than leaving more bodies behind.

"Yes. I'll have to speak to Asuma, but I'd like Ten-Ten. She's got both a powerful taijutsu, and a powerful genjutsu. She'll be a fine complement to the team."

"Well, with the injured list, and the graduating genin, as well as the chunin elevated on the battlefield, I know some of the teams are being reformed anyway.

"As Lady Tsunade did agree you could pick those you wished for your team, I don't see any problem," he nodded. "Especially as I happen to agree with you. The kunoichi is a pretty fair shinobi. You should know….She's a little high-strung, and temperamental, though. Quick to act without thought at times, I've heard."

"While Hinata still tends to over-think, and Sakura is….well, Sakura," Naruto chuckled.

"Still, that's another reason to bring her in. Their contrasting styles and temperaments will help them understand their own weaknesses in the end, and add to their discipline. Or so I hope."

"So, her looks aren't part of it?"

Naruto merely stared at him. "Trying to make a point, Kakashi," he asked blandly.

"No, no. Anyway, good luck. A squad of kunoichi is one thing that I have always avoided," he told him bluntly. "I can't begin to imagine the headaches you are taking on with those three."

"Hinata and Sakura already get along pretty well," he shrugged. "They're training well together, and their styles already complement one another, with Sakura's raw strength and tendency to charge ahead augmenting Hinata's more defensive posture. We'll have to see how Ten-Ten fits before I can decide a team dynamic for their further training," he said quietly, mentally considering that very task then.

"Well, seriously. Good luck," Kakashi told him sincerely as he slid his book from a back pocket, and opened it to a favorite page. "I'd better go see what my genin are up to about now."

"All right," he nodded, eyeing the copy-nin who was one of the more perceptive men in the village it seemed. "By the way, Kakashi-sensei," he addressed called the ninja out of a degree of respect he felt kept them from guessing just how much he was playing them all. "I just thought you'd like to know, Jiraiya's new book will be out at the end of the week."

"Really? That's great," he smiled behind his mask, then stopped mid-step. "Wait. Jiraiya? Lord Jiraiya writes….?" He glanced at his well-worn copy of his favorite series.

"Yep," Naruto smiled. "Maybe you can get him to sign a copy for you," he suggested, having broken his word to Jiraiya about that particular secret, but only because the old letch had been trying to peek on him and Sakura lately while they prepared for his upcoming wedding.

"Research, my ass," Naruto grumbled as he recalled how he had been reassuring Sakura that she would always have a place in his heart, and his life. That she was his, now and forever, but that she would have to accept that so was Hinata.

He just didn't mention a certain very special jutsu that did, in fact, bind her to him whether she yet realized it, or not. As it would three others in due time to finally complete his master plan.

Whatever the pink-haired kunoichi might have told him that night, however, was cut off by the crack of glass as the old perv had leaned too far over the skylight where he peered in on them where they were assessing the house he had bought with his bounties from his share of the rogue nin captured, and for his services to the village in general. He was, after all, going to need a house, Tsunade had wisely pointed out.

When they heard the glass crack, he looked up, seen the old toad sage, and shook a fist at him, shouting, "You're paying for that, you old perv!"

When he looked down, Sakura had left.

Her actions, however, spoke loudly enough for him.

She showed up at training, welcomed Hinata to their squad, and then proceeded to try to hammer the shyer girl into the ground.

To Sakura's genuine shock, Hinata not only held her own, she ended up stopping almost every attack Sakura launched against her.

She still remained tentative at times, and hesitated to commit fully against the determined kunoichi, but Sakura didn't relent. Only Naruto knew why. She was fighting for her place in his presence even if she didn't quite realize it herself as yet.

Hinata might be fated to be his bride, but the ritual that yet awaited, she instinctively knew, had nothing to do with Naruto and his 'bitches' in his planned pack as some were snidely calling his two women. She had already been touched enough by him that she instinctively knew she had to show herself the dominant female to be first among those yet to come.

The first day the two women trained, however, proved a stalemate.

Sakura fumed all night.

Naruto only smiled.

Hinata might not yet realize what was going on, but he knew she would learn soon enough When she did, he had little doubt the woman was going to really show Sakura her true potential. He could not wait.

Watching as Kakashi walked off to meet his new squad, he decided he might as well head for the Hokage's to put in his request now, as he saw little need to delay the matter. He had looked around, and decided the spirited young woman he had seen around the village was just what he needed.

Tsunade, surprisingly, agreed that he had a very good idea.

Either that, or no one wanted to risk angering him. He didn't care what the reason was, but he was one step closer to his primary goal. That was all that mattered to him. Well, almost all.

_**N**_

"Here's the deal," he told the three women surprised to be on the same squad when he arrived the next morning with Ten-Ten in tow. "Today is going to be a competition. I won't say what you are competing for just yet. I won't say what befalls the losers," he told them, eyeing Sakura pointedly, knowing she had yet to do more than tie Hinata so far after a full week of training.

"But, there is a prize. Just as there is a consequence for the losers. Ready to hear the terms of the contest?" "Yes, sensei," Hinata spoke in unison with Sakura.

Ten-Ten gave a wry grimace, and drawled, "Sure, why not," as she tried to understand why she had been pulled off her old squad led by Kurenai-sensei, and filled out with Kiba and Neji. They had been a good team. An effective team.

Only Neji was now consumed with Clan duties, and Kiba was one of the few elevated to chunin, and being given his own squad, too. That left her alone unless she wanted to end up surrounded by genin again, and Kurenai-sensei headed for a new squad. Still, she couldn't seem to figure out why she was here. With Naruto.

She heard some strange rumors about him, and having been in the caves helping guard the children, she had not actually seen the battle. Just hearing the things described wasn't the same, she knew, but still…..? Summoning the Nine-Tails? Even a semblance? What kind of power did that even take?

"All right, listen carefully. You see the hillside overlooking the forest," he pointed at a ridge just five miles off that was just visible over the trees still standing around them. "You're going to race one another to that hill, claim a marker I'll have waiting, and get back here to win. Before you ask, there is only one marker. Thus, there can be only one winner. You are to use whatever means possible to beat your competition…..short of lethal injury, Sakura," he told her firmly, and Ten-Ten frowned, hoping that was a joke.

After all. Sakura? Lethal?

"You may incapacitate. Render unconscious. Dupe, or simply outrun your sisters," he called them, "But only one of you is going to be able to consider yourselves the winner. Your signal to start will be when I stand atop the hill, signifying I've hidden the marker you have to find, while outrunning, and outdoing your sisters. Any questions?" "Uhm. Well, yes, Naruto-sensei. Are there…..limits on…..on the jutsu we are allowed to use?" "None," he told Hinata. "So long as you don't engage in lethal force."

"All right," she smiled at him.

"Jeez," Ten-Ten muttered, having been exposed to Neji's opinion of his cousin long enough to share it, and seeing little reason to doubt it in what she had seen so far. Was she going to have to bail out this blushing brownnoser when they went out on a real mission? She hoped not. She was used to working with competent shinobi.

"Get ready, shinobi," he called them, and turned to leave. "Remember, when you see me, it's your signal to start."

"Wait," Ten-Ten growled. "What is the marker? How will we know we found it?" He smirked.

"That, my dear kunoichi, is one of your challenges. After all, as shinobi, aren't you supposed to be capable of outthinking others, and finding what is well hidden?" She grumbled to herself, but said nothing as the black and orange clad chunin loped off into the woods.

And who the devils wore black and orange? It was ridiculous.

"I'm going to get that marker," Sakura told them, holding up a fist. "Believe it," she parroted her lover who had actually yet to visit her again even though she just knew he would. Especially once she won here today.

"Uhm, actually, Sakura, I think I have the edge in finding the marker at all."

"Good," Ten-Ten sneered at her. "Then be a good girl and find it for me, and _I'll _bring it back."

"Not in this life, loser," Sakura snipped.

"Loser?"

"Temari kicked your skinny at the exams. Don't think I haven't forgotten that. Your match was over so fast I'm surprised they didn't send you back to the academy."

"Like you were any better," she fumed. "Ino had you sweating before you even stepped on the arena floor."

"That was then," Sakura growled, her eyes narrowing ominously. "This is now."

"Like you said, billboard….."

"Don't….even…._dare_ finish that," she growled as she turned to realize Hinata had vanished, and Naruto was standing atop the distant hillside.

"Damn you," Sakura spat, and backhanded Ten-Ten out of the way as she raced after her teammate.

To her shock, Ten-Ten found herself flung back almost twenty feet before she slid to a halt at Kakashi's feet as three stunned, young genin gaped down at her.

"Taking it easy already, Ten-Ten," the copy-nin grinned down at her from behind his mask.

"_Sakura!_" she growled, bounding to her feet, and taking huge leaps to try to catch up to the others before she was left completely out of the running.

"Wow," a bald genin with black eyes exclaimed. "I didn't know girls could do that."

"What do you think I am," a tow-headed blonde with dark green eyes in full ninja gear demanded.

"Uh….We thought _you_ were a guy, too," the dark-haired genin standing beside her smiled warily. "Aren't you?"

Kakashi sighed as the blonde leapt on top of her detractor, small fists flying with genuinely punishing effect.

"Wait, wait," the young nin cried in despair. "It's not my fault. You even have a boy's name, Al!"

"It's Ail, you moron," she thundered, still pounding her teammate.

"Here we go again," Kakashi sighed.

_**N**_

"There won't be a tie this time, sister," Sakura shouted as she caught up to Hinata who was using the careful, cautious approach she favored as she moved warily through the forest, considering the possibility of traps.

Even as she raced by her, Hinata's instincts made her cry out a warning even as her Byakugan spotted the first, small paper bomb. "Sakura, wait!"

"Not a chance, Hyuga. I'll…..! Oh…..shoot," she muttered as she turned, and found herself face to face with the sputtering booby-trap.

_**N**_

"That looked painful," Neji murmured as he came up behind Naruto in time to see Sakura blown back through the forest by the trap.

She wasn't hurt. The bomb had not been that strong. But she would be dazed, and slowed. It would also teach her a degree of caution next time.

"I've been trying to teach her caution. I though a more….hands-on approach might help this time around."

"And Hinata?"

"Still somewhat timid, but she is developing quite well," he told him as he watched Hinata pause, move around another trap, and then race on through the forest.

"Using one of Kakashi-sensei's tricks?"

"I've studied some of his training techniques. They seem effective, from what I've heard."

"So, I have heard."

"Why are you here, Neji," he asked as he kept his attention on the squad. Ten-Ten was still behind, was fast approaching where Sakura still lay dazed, and trying to sit back up. Hinata was now only a mile from the hillside, still moving cautiously, and deftly evading traps he had set out for them.

"Come to be sure I'm not abusing Hinata?"

"Actually, I am here on another matter. I have heard rumors of your affair with Sakura. Which you are apparently continuing. Now you are adding yet another kunoichi to your ranks…..?"

"I am fond of Sakura," he admitted. "And Ten-Ten is a professional decision to round out my team.

"Yet you are marrying my sister."

"Yes."

"It takes little imagination to guess why someone of your….nature is pulling a squad of women together around you. I would prefer, however, if you left Ten-Ten out of your….pack."

Naruto looked at him for the first time.

"Why, Neji, you sound almost human there. And jealous."

"I have to ask. What are your intentions toward my comrade," he demanded firmly.

"Former comrade," he told him. "Technically

"All the same….."

"Just tell me, Neji. Is there something between you?"

Neji drew a breath, and then slowly shook his head. "No. Not yet."

"But you would like it to be."

"Yes," he found himself admitting in spite of the fact it had not been a question. "I just felt it….unprofessional to associate with a squad member."

"You're an idiot, Hyuga."

"Also, my life has not been my own. My duty has been to my Clan, and my lord. I…. Oh, dear," he murmured, looking down. "Perhaps you should….intercede now."

"No. Watch," Naruto said as Ten-Ten raced past Sakura, who was canny enough to follow Hinata's faint trail this time in a bid to catch up with her without tripping any of the traps he had all around them. Meanwhile, Ten-Ten was skulking in the trees over Hinata's head, and was pulling out one of her weapons' scrolls.

"You don't understand. I know that move. She could hurt…."

"_Steel Rain_," Ten-Ten shouted as she leapt down, flinging the summoning scroll open and sending a storm of shuriken down at the shy girl below.

"That's going to cost her," Naruto drawled without concern as Hinata looked up, and to Neji's surprise, took a familiar stance. One he didn't realize she knew.

"Ninety-eight palms," his cousin cried, and he gaped as he saw her jutsu himself for the first times as her hands flashed like lightening, deflecting every shuriken away from her in the blink of an eye.

"Ninety….._eight_," Neji murmured, staring at her never having started that far, that fast. He generally started with sixteen, and worked up as necessary.

"Looks like she still needs a little work," Naruto commented, and Neji saw that one shuriken had gotten through her protective defenses and struck her left thigh. It was not much more than a flesh wound, he could see that, but Naruto was scowling.

"Ten-Ten was told not to use lethal attacks. Still, I think she's going to regret that."

"Just give me the marker, Hyuga," Ten-Ten's voice carried in its strident tone.

Neji smiled, liking her brash manner for reasons of his own.

"Come and get it," Hinata shocked him by replying in spite of the fact she had yet to find it.

Neji gaped again as Hinata, who had not lasted five minutes with him in the chunin exams, delivered a perfect gentle fist to Ten-Ten in the instant the brunette reached her, dropping her on her back, and leaving her helpless.

"Don't worry, Ten-Ten. You'll recover. In about an hour. Until then, you won't get in my way again."

"We've been practicing," Neji was told as he gaped at his sister's demeanor.

"Apparently."

"Well, we haven't just been strolling around stargazing. I've been giving her tips to help her better implement her skills."

"Let me get this straight. You have been courting my sister this past week, and while you are together, you…..shared tips on improving her jutsu?"

"I believe she has tremendous potential," he told the new Hyuga heir. "She just needed someone to believe in her."

"I see."

"Now, as to Ten-Ten. I have no designs on her beyond simply using her skills to complement my team. She is a competent, if raw shinobi, and once she learns to control her impetuous nature, she will be a formidable kunoichi," he drawled, seeing no reason to tell someone like Hyuga his real plans for anyone around him.

"I have long felt that, too."

"And, Neji, life is too short to play waiting games. If you like Ten-Ten, say so. Before you lose her. One way, or another, forever. You just won't be seeing her this week."

"Why not, he asked with a faint frown. "Have you already gotten a mission?" "No. nothing like that. But she is obviously going to lose my little competition, and she has to pay for violating my express orders regarding lethal attacks. I predict a long, _boring_ weekend for Ten-Ten," he smiled.

"Now you sound like Kakashi, too," Neji actually smiled thinly.

"You mean Kurenai didn't use those tactics?"

"No. She showed up, tried to get us to drop out, and generally left us to train alone most times, and then showed up again telling us how disappointing we were."

"Here comes Sakura," Neji smiled. "I wonder how she's going to handle her."

Naruto only smiled.

_**N**_

"Did you find it," Sakura demanded as Hinata turned from scanning the area around her, plainly aware that Naruto stood not far overhead, looking down.

"You could always search for yourself," the young brunette smiled, her silver eyes wide, and questing.

"Nice try, Hinata. But I'm winning Naruto…. _Naruto's prize_," she amended as Hinata frowned at her.

"I don't think so, Sakura," she told her, and dodged right. Left, and then back to run right back Sakura, having deftly slid something into her vest in the same moment she moved.

"Not this time," Sakura raged, and leapt to land in front of the girl, and slammed a powerful fist into the ground, going for her base, since she knew Hinata on her feet was almost unstoppable. Hinata actually giggled as she somersaulted over Sakura's shoulders, her hands flashing as she passed over her hand, and Sakura paled, and dropped to her knees.

"Sorry, Sakura. But _this_ prize is mine," Hinata told her as she raced back the way she had come.

Sakura, temporarily weakened, forced herself to her feet, using her new chakra controlling skill to overcome the paralyzing effects of the girl's jutsu. She staggered after her, saw Hinata duck right, and anticipating another trap, followed her even as Hinata immediately jumped straight up into a tree before racing back to the finish line.

Sakura, still too dazed to react in time, blundered into another booby-trap that blew her back across the clearing, and slammed her bodily into the side of hill. She hit the ground, and pounded both fists in frustration before leaping to her feet, and tottering after Hinata.

It was clear to the observers, however, that Sakura was too far behind.

"I'm impressed. They have both progressed beyond what I recall from the chunin exams."

"Of course. You did not expect them to stay still? Now, I'd better go tend my team. And after she finishes her punishment, you might want to consider actually telling Ten-Ten how you feel. Even I know a woman won't wait forever if she has any interest in you."

"Naruto," Neji asked before he could leave. "Out of curiosity. What are you going to assign Ten-Ten as her punishment."

"I had a few ideas. But after reading Miss Kurenai's file on her, I have decided she will spend the week properly cleaning my house to prepare it for habitation."

"She's going to hate you forever," Neji stated dryly.

"Good. That will be an excellent start."

Neji only shook his head.

_**N**_

"Hinata," Naruto smiled as he nodded to her when she came loping out of the forest. He, of course, had already reached the finish line that had also been the starting point.

"Naruto-sensei," she came and bowed before him, holding out the small, velvet case she had found under a very cleverly hidden rock camouflaged on the ridge.

"Do I win?"

"Let's see," he murmured, and opened the case, and pulled out a simple, silver ring with the Leaf sigil on it.

"Why, I believe you do, Hinata," he said, and took her left hand to slide the engagement band onto her hand. "Go and take the rest of the day off. You may do as you wish."

"Thank you, sensei," she smiled, bowing again.

"But, tomorrow, we return to training. You slipped up. That shuriken should never have touched you."

"I know, Naruto-sensei," she sighed. "I….was distracted."

"We'll work on that tomorrow, too," he told her. "But for now, you are free to enjoy yourself. And get that wound looked at. You don't want it infected when you walk down the aisle next week."

She blushed again, and dared kiss his cheek before racing off, the small velvet case clutched to her chest in one hand. She was gone almost thirty minutes before Sakura came staggering in, and looking well past furious.

"She….She….beat me," she panted, her hair matted, her tunic stained, and looking much the worse for wear.

"Slow down. Rest," he ordered her.

She dropped to her knees, remembering her first lessons, and just shook her head. "I just cannot believe she beat me."

"You beat yourself, Sakura."

"Huh," she frowned, looking up at him.

"You ran headlong into traps twice. The first was careless. The second was foolish. You tried to confront a known rival with a method you already knew wouldn't work, and let your temper blind you to new strategies. That can be deadly in the field," he reminded her.

"I know, Naruto," she sighed, dropping her head. "I just wanted….to win. To make you……proud of me.."

"I'm already proud, Sakura," he told her quietly. "Now, I want you to be proud of yourself. I also want you to remember that even you still have weaknesses, and must learn to counter them. In time, you'll learn to find your own way around them. In the meantime, you're going to have to count on your sisters to aid you."

"Even Ten-Ten," she grumbled.

"Even Ten-Ten. Now. As for your forfeit?"

Sakura held her breath.

"You will put in extra shifts at the hospital the rest of the week. I expect to hear excellent reviews from Lady Tsunade, too. Slow down. Focus. And stop being so quick to anger."

He turned as he gestured for her to go even as he said, "And speaking of quick tempers."

Ten-Ten stumbled out of the woods only then, still looking far worse than Sakura who was only then reaching him, having recovered a little sooner than Hinata had likely expected. Still, she had incapacitated her long enough for her to complete her 'mission,' and get away. In that, she had been more than successful.

She looked around, seeing Sakura had walked off, and realized Hinata was nowhere to be seen.

"I'm….last," she groaned.

"You are last," he nodded.

She sighed, and dropped her head.

"Forgive me, sensei, I…..I failed."

"Failure is one thing," she was told sternly, making her look up with alarm. "Disobedience is another. Your shuriken rain as you employed it was potentially lethal. Yet you still used it."

"I….I wasn't thinking," she admitted. "I was just rushing to catch up, and wanted to win so badly, and….." She froze, seeing his grim visage, and shook her head. Even Kurenai wouldn't overlook that kind of lapse. "Forgive me, sensei, but….she wasn't even hurt."

"You did nick her leg."

"Oh."

"It could have easily been her throat, or heart."

Ten-Ten swallowed hard.

"In combat, I assume you've learned that obedience is as important as discipline when it comes to following a strategy? You did have that lesson?"

"Yes, sensei," she groaned, feeling like she was being scolded like a child before this man barely any older than herself.

"So, you admit you have no excuse?" She opened her mouth, and then dropped her head as she closed her mouth.

"No, Naruto-sensei," she finally muttered, staring at her feet. "I have no excuse."

"Still, you learned two things, haven't you?" "I….I have?"

"First, don't discount your sisters."

"Oh. Yeah. Definitely," she nodded glumly, still feeling her jaw throbbing from that backhand Sakura had given her.

Who knew that billboard brow would turn into such a powerful kunoichi?

"Can you guess the second?" Ten-Ten looked uneasy as she frowned at her toes.

"Uh. Uhm. That…..That I…..shouldn't…..disobey you?" "Not quite," he chuckled.

"Oh. I'm….not sure, sensei," she admitted.

"That's all right. You can figure it out while you accept the consequences for your actions."

"C-C-Consequences," she rasped.

"I did mention those?"

"Yes, sensei," she sighed.

"Good. After you go by the hospital, and have yourself checked for injuries you might be yet to feel, I want you to appear at my house every evening after training for the next week." "Your….house," she choked.

"That's right. You know where it is, don't you," he asked, guessing everyone in the village knew which house he had bought by now.

"Yes, sensei."

"Good. For the next week, you are going to appear at my house every night after training, and you will aid in giving it a proper cleaning before Hinata and I move in after we're married. Oh," he added as her face underwent a comical transformation. "Don't forget to bring your own cleaning supplies, and old clothes. The house is pretty dirty, and it will be a mess at the start."

"You….You want me to do…._housework_," the proud kunoichi shuddered.

"You do understand the concept of punishments, don't you, kunoichi," he demanded sternly.

"Yes. Yes, sensei," she murmured, and bowed again.

"Good. Then you won't disappoint me by trying to disappear. Will you?"

"Oh, ah, no, sensei. No."

"Good. Because if you did, Ten-Ten, I assure you, I can think of far worse punishments than _housework_."

She couldn't help it. His tone made her shudder.

"I'll be there," she promised.

"Good. Then go get yourself looked at, and then have an early meal. You'll be working late."

He turned to see three young genin staring as the proud woman loped off, still limping slightly, leaving him standing alone.

"It's him," the kunoichi murmured. "I'm telling you. I saw him outside the walls one night."

"No way," the bald genin muttered. "You're crazy. He don't look anything like a jinchuriki."

Naruto smiled, knowing they didn't realize his ears could hear every word as they sat that, apparently waiting on something. Or someone.

Walking over, he nodded to them, and smiled at the blonde. "Hello, Ail. Still taking late night walks? You should be careful. You never know when an enemy might be waiting to drag a pretty kunoichi off," he winked, and walked off leaving her blushing as the boys stared with open mouths.

"He knew you were a girl," he head the dark-haired genin exclaim.

"Jyro," she growled, and Naruto chortled as the boy yelped as he tried to evade what was likely just one in a series of assaults from the look of him.

_**N**_

"We need a doctor," Shikamaru shouted as he rushed into the lobby with Choji, who cradled Ino in his arms.

Sakura, only just starting her shift, turned to gape at her longtime friend laying pale in Choji's big arms.

"This way, guys," she said, leading them to a nearby stretcher. "What happened? Can you tell me….?"

"We were just training, and then she suddenly fell down and went all white," Choji told her.

"She didn't even make a sound," the bigger ninja nodded as he carefully laid her on the stretcher as Sakura quickly began to assess her state.

"So. No delayed genjutsu? No poison barbs? No blows of any kind?"

"She was working on her mind-possession jutsu, and suddenly she just let go, and dropped," Shikamaru told her. "It was….scary."

He knew the wry man was smart, and a man of few words, but when he put things like that, even she was concerned. "Okay. I'll take her in to examine her. You guys just wait out here, and I'll let you know how she is as soon as we know something."

"Take care of her, Sakura," Choji told her anxiously.

"Count on it, guys," she nodded as an orderly appeared to help her carry her to a room for a full examination.

_**N**_

"You scared us," Sakura smiled as Ino woke to find herself laying in a bed, wearing a hospital gown.

"What….happened?" "You don't know?"

"I….I was….. I'm not sure," the blonde admitted. "Wait. Shikamaru was waiting to see if I could expand my mind-possession to two minds at once, and then….. Then everything went black."

"You overstretched yourself."

"That's nonsense," Ino huffed, trying to sit up. "I've done more….."

"Now while you were pregnant."

"Whoa, that got my head spinning," she was saying as she lay back, eyes closed after Sakura easily pushed her back down.

Then her expression changed as her blue eyes shot open, and she stared at her.

"While I was _what_," she shrieked.

"Another doctor is rechecking my findings, but….it looks like you're pregnant," she smiled. "Who's the lucky dad?" Ino looked more than stricken.

"I…..don't know," she said, and closed her eyes again.

"Ino?"

"I don't want to talk about it," she spat. "Please……Please go away."

"All right," she nodded, rising from the chair beside her bed. She stopped to look back at her miserable looking friend.

"Listen. It looks like you're about six to seven weeks…."

"Just go away," Ino shrieked.

"You're family is here. Would you like me to send them in?"

"Oh, gods, _no_," she moaned.

"Ino."

"Just kill me instead," she moaned.

Sakura didn't reply to that, and left to find Ino's friends.

And family.

_**N**_

"Who can that be," Sakura asked Ten-Ten as they turned from scrubbing the last of the main floor down, and were looking back at it with pride.

Naruto had actually moved in three days ago, but was only using the house to prepare for his wedding. He had yet to officially live there so far as anyone knew. In fact, the only ones that had been at the house were her and Ten-Ten, helping Naruto clean the place in time for the wedding.

Shizune was handling many of the other details for Naruto, acting as his liaison with his 'grandmother' Tsunade who was standing for his family. Lord Hiashi, while not protesting the union, was more a distant, but tolerant sire who merely did what tradition demanded, and very little else.

Naruto, still getting death threats from certain anonymous factions, called out, "I'll get it," before the women could head for the door, not wishing to take any chances. He had been eluding idiots planning to ambush him as they had years ago all week, and in spite of all he had done, they still thought him just the jinchuriki. Just a nameless bastard.

He had little doubt that Danzo, recently out of the hospital, was active yet again.

He was going to have to visit him.

Soon.

"Ino," Naruto remarked as he stared at the pale, blonde girl holding her possessions in a small bag, and wearing her workshop gown rather than her ninja gear just then.

"Ino," Sakura frowned as she came up behind him. "I thought they sent you home to rest," she said as she and Ten-Ten came to the door to see the girl staring at them.

"I…..I didn't know where else to go," she began.

"Ino," Sakura frowned, moving to catch her as she faltered under the slight weight of just that one small bag she carried. "What happened?"

"Mother….Mother threw me out," she told her. "You know her. She's…..very traditional.

"She cannot believe I don't know the father, and believes I've been…. She thinks….."

"I can guess," Sakura told her, knowing her mother well. Oddly enough, her own mother was just glad she obviously had found a lover, accepting the gossip at face value. She didn't even mind it was Naruto, simply glad her daughter had finally gotten her brooding over Uchiha out of her system.

"If I could….. Maybe just stay until an inn opens………"

"Come in," Naruto told her, and took her bag as Sakura helped her inside. "We are comrades, Ino. Some of the Leaf seem to have forgotten what means," he muttered in a cool voice even as he considered this might even work to his favor if he were careful.

"For sure," Ten-Ten huffed as she joined them at the door, eyeing her friend.

"We'd better get you into bed. You should still be resting, and I doubt your mother gave you a chance. Did she?"

"Not….much," Ino sighed wearily as Sakura led her inside after taking her bag to hand off to Ten-Ten.

"And you wondered why I avoided the village for so long," Naruto drawled as he turned to Ten-Ten, proving he had overheard an earlier conversation.

"I'll….make some tea," Ten-Ten told her.

"With aloe and ginseng," Sakura told her as she led the blonde to the nearest room. "It'll help settle her stomach, and relax her, too."

"I don't know how to thank you," Ino said as Naruto led Sakura to his own room prepared for him and Hinata by now. It was, after all, the cleanest room in the house beside the kitchen.

There was, obviously, still a lot to do in the time remaining.

"As I said, Miss Ino. We are shinobi. Comrades. We do not turn our backs on one another. You are welcome to stay as long as you need."

"Just….until an inn opens…."

"I don't think she needs the tea," Sakura told him as she lay the girl down on a futon, and the pale girl dropped off instantly. "Her mother must have really grilled her if she is this worn out."

"I would like to think my mother would have been more understanding," Naruto murmured as he watched Sakura loosen her dress' bodice to let her rest better before covering her up.

"I'm sure she would. Most mothers are," Sakura told him as they left the room, closing the door behind them. "But Ino's mother is….well, _very_ old-fashioned. She feels even saying you liked a guy before you were married is the same as sleeping with him. Unfortunately, Ino's mother is also very good at mind-possession jutsus. I can just imagine _how_ she must have grilled Ino, and that isn't good for her, or the baby. It's a wonder she made it to this part of town from her house considering how tired she must be."

"Remind me not to invite her to my wedding," Naruto grumbled as they returned to the living area, and surveyed the chaos left in the wake of their most recent cleaning efforts.

"I have tea," Ten-Ten told them as she walked toward them carrying a tray.

"Save it," Sakura told her as they closed the door behind them as she and Naruto left Ino to rest. "She's out."

"Wow. That fast," she exclaimed. "Poor girl must have really been tired."

Ten-Ten knew Ino's mother, too.

"I'd like one of you to stay here tonight, if you don't mind, and watch over her. I'll be back at dawn."

"You're….not staying?"

"We've done enough for tonight. You've both worked hard all week. In training, and in your own punishments. I am not that unyielding, so take the rest of the night off. But one of you needs to stay….."

"I'll do it," they both said as one.

"I'll do it," Sakura stressed again. "I've got medical training. Remember?"

"All right. Ten-Ten, you can go on home. I'll help put everything away, and leave Sakura to lock up after me."

"Go ahead," Sakura told her when Ten-Ten actually hesitated. She really did want to make up for her poor start, and she was working hard in both her training, and in the one chore she despised more than anything else she could think of just then.

"Okay. I would like an real night off for once," she said with a grin as she headed for the door. "Not that I'm complaining," she quickly added with a sidelong glance Naruto.

"Bolt the doors, and be careful," Naruto told Sakura as he prepared to leave almost immediately after her. "I think Danzo is stirring up trouble again."

"I've heard the rumors," she said grimly, looking more mature, and more understanding than she had just a few months ago.

"I'll be close," he added, and left without looking back.

Sakura sighed, and wished she was the one getting married.

Her lover, one-time as it had been, had told her she was not forgotten. She just didn't know what role she was going to have in his life after he married Hinata. Nor had she mentioned the other rumors she had been hearing herself. Uglier rumors. She had a feeling that knowing him, Naruto had already heard them.

Knowing him, it was a surprise someone wasn't already dead.

_**N**_

"Well, well," four masked nin grinned as they dropped from the shadows around her as Ten-Ten headed down the street toward her home.

Unlike Ino's parents, hers seemed to trust her, and her sensei.

Maybe because they had been on the wall that day, and had seen how he fought. Maybe because they knew her, and knew she could hold her own. Still, she had heard a few rumors lately hanging around Ichiraku's shop, and they weren't pleasant. She was still wondering what to do about them when the four nin appeared.

"You're one of the fox-demon's vixens," their spokesmen leered. "I wager we'd like the kinds of things he's been teaching you lot."

"No, you wouldn't," Ten-Ten told him, one hand cocking just so as she held it close to her thigh. "Now, why don't you boys go home and sleep it off, and maybe you won't need a medical nin in the morning."

"I think the little slut is calling us out," another of the other nin sneered.

"All right, fox-slut," the first sneered. "Time to learn your place."

Even as the men moved, Ten-Ten's hands flashed as he unleashed a scaled down version of what she called her 'Shuriken Rain,' and the men howled as dozens of sharp blades flew, pinning them uncomfortably to the nearest wall from head to foot, narrowly missing their vulnerable flesh.

"Want to see another trick my sensei has taught me," Ten-Ten smiled smugly as each of the four men looked not at her, but at the four remaining shuriken spinning in midair just inches from their faces.

She pointed, and the deadly stars flashed down, and slammed into the walls between spread legs.

"Next time, I'll use _another_ target. And I'm _very_ good at hitting what I aim at, boys," she told them. "Even small targets," she drawled.

"You bitch," one of the men howled. "Let us down."

For struggle as they tried, the chakra-guided stars kept them pinned tightly, keeping their uniforms from tearing, or letting them pull free.

A kunai filled her hand. "Maybe I should take a little souvenir after all," she suggested, raising the sharp steel.

"Ten-Ten," a blonde shadow came out of the night to stand behind her. "That's enough. You did well. Now, go home. I'll tend these vermin."

The men's fear rose considerably as they realized who the blue-eyed nin was standing before them. One actually passed out as he came out of the shadows.

"And you're a shinobi," Ten-Ten sneered, reaching out and deftly cutting his headband off, and palming it.

"Tell your friend he can come and get this back any time he wants," she said, tying the band around her right thigh.

Not one man spoke at the obvious insult.

"Goodnight, sensei," she turned to bow, catching his faint smirk as she tied the unconscious nin's headband to her leg. The ultimate insult to such men, stripping them of their badge of honor. And to wear it openly so was even more of an insult.

"Underestimated one of my vixens," Naruto purred as she walked away, proving he had heard the gossip. "Didn't you," he asked, that purr turning to a low growl. "We both know who sent you, and who is gossiping from the shadows. Listen very carefully," he told the men. "The chakra holding you won't release until morning," he said, subtle strengthening Ten-Ten's ninja art with his own power. "When it does, you crawl back to your kennel, and tell _Danzo_ that one more word…. Just one more act…. "And it is his last."

Naruto vanished the moment he finished speaking.

Not one of the three men doubted him.

"Sometimes I really hate this job," one of the men sighed as he just gave up struggling, and hung from the wall, waiting for dawn. Naturally, it was hours away. For whatever the reason, the city guard never did cross their path during their patrols. It was as if they were hidden from sight.

_**N**_

"Feeling better," Sakura asked as Ino woke early the next morning.

"Yeah," the blonde smiled wanly. "Mom really hammered me this time. I…."

"I remember how she is," Sakura told Ino, handing her a cup of steaming tea. "Try this. It'll help you, and the baby."

"Thanks," she sighed, and sipped the herbal drink with relish as she sat up in the bed.

"Where….?"

"Naruto is finishing breakfast, and Ten-Ten and Hinata are out front talking while we wait for him. Today is still a training day for us."

"I've heard his workouts are grueling," Ino smiled weakly. "But that you guys are fast becoming the talk of the village. Not like that," Ino grimaced as she realized what she had just intimated. "I mean….I've heard….that, too. But even Neji was talking about how fantastic Hinata has become, and I think even Kakashi is amazed at how far you've come."

"Well, it helps that Lady Tsunade taught me what she has," she admitted. "But Naruto really has taught me to hone what she's taught me to a higher plane."

"I saw the laborers still clearing and rebuilding the forest last week," she grinned, feeling more like herself as she stood up after finishing her tea. She wasn't even dizzy, or nauseous. "You guys are going to level the whole forest the way you're going."

"I have some extra food if you're hungry…."

"You cook for him, too?"

"Well, sometimes," she admitted. "I stayed over to watch you, and he was out prowling again all night. Like always. I sometimes wonder if he ever sleeps."

"Maybe he just doesn't sleep here," Ino said in a questioning tone.

"No, he sleeps. I've seen him. I mean…."

"So, _those_ rumors are true?"

Sakura sighed.

"Oh, I know that sound. Another unrequited love?"

"Hardly," she hugged. "I mean….I don't know. We had a wonderful night at the Sand village when we took Gaara home the first time. Then, it was like….nothing happened. Well, except I can't stop thinking about him."

"Was he your first?"

"Yes."

"You're lucky."

"Want to talk about it," she asked, looking purposely at her still slender abdomen as Ino now quickly, and efficiently straightened her uniform, and got ready for her day.

"No. I….I can't. And I'd better get going.

"I have my own training….."

"No training. Not until we're sure you've fully recovered. That's my medical opinion, so you have to listen."

"Well, I still better go find an inn….."

"Nonsense," Naruto told her, having come in just then. "This house is more than big enough for you. Just pick a room. I'd have put you in another last night, but I don't have beds in all of them yet," he admitted. "The movers should have the rest of the furniture I ordered here by this afternoon, though, so feel free to stay as long as you need, Miss Ino," he told her as she and Sakura walked into the main room with him to join the others.

Ino stared at him a moment, then sighed. "Thank you, Naruto. I….I don't know how I'll ever thank you….."

"We are comrades. As I said. I'm sure you're mother will come around soon enough."

"You don't know my mother," she sighed.

"All the same, here is an extra key if you need to go out today. You may come and go as you wish, and don't worry about imposing. I'm rarely here except to clean, or meet my students, who tend to get lazy without proper guidance," he teased them as Hinata flushed, and Ten-Ten rolled her eyes, both of them knowing how to take his comments by then.

Sakura just sighed.

"Sakura, today you are needed at the hospital," he told her as they made plans for the day. "Lady Tsunade requested your aid as last night two teams came in from the Land of Fire, and both were badly injured. Nothing serious," he quickly added at her look of alarm, "But her medical team has their hands full just now with all the new genin injuring one another in training. Don't worry. You won't miss anything. Today, I'll be showing your sisters the chakra control I first taught you. I think it might benefit them at this stage of their training."

"Like beating them wasn't hard enough," she sputtered, then shrugged. "Fine. I need to talk to Lady Tsunade about a new medical technique I was reading about anyway."

"All right. Good. Ino, there is still food in the kitchen if you are hungry. The movers have their own key already, so don't feel you need to wait on them if you have someplace to go. Ladies," he turned to Hinata and Ten-Ten. "Ready for your next lessons?" "Yes, Naruto-sensei," Hinata blushed, smiling.

Ten-Ten merely nodded.

Miss Ino," he nodded, and turned to lead the pair out of the house.

"I guess I'd better get going, too. I probably would have heard about the Hokage's request if I had been home, but….."

"I'll be fine. Go ahead."

"Just promise me you'll eat, and take it easy today. No training."

"I promise," Ino laughed. "Now, go. You don't want the Hokage mad at you. I've seen what she can do."

"So have I," Sakura grinned, and impulsively hugged her before heading for the door in her favorite red gown she still favored for hospital work. "And I'm glad you're feeling better this morning."

Ino's smile faded as the door closed, and she sat down to weep as she remembered things she had thought forgotten.

_**N**_

"Ah, they're not doing _nothing_ today," Jyro muttered as Ail watched from the trees with her companions as Naruto, Hinata, and Ten-Ten sat facing one another in a circle, eyes closed, meditating.

Ail said nothing.

"Look closer," Kakashi murmured as his three 'missing' squad members cringed at being found spying on the older shinobi when their sensei appeared behind them without warning. "Closer," he admonished when the trio turned to look his way.

"I…..I can almost feel their chakra," Ail murmured, holding out a hand. "It's….."

"Incredible," Yama, the genin with all black eyes murmured, actually seeing the chakra around the three rising and melding.

"Sensei," the bald genin asked. "Why is Naruto-sensei's chakra so….dark?"

"You can't see….! Can you," Jyro asked.

"Naruto is also host of the Nine-Tails. A powerful spirit that lives inside him. It is what makes him so strong, and so dangerous. Still, this is a lesson for all of you. Especially you, Jyro. Even the strongest shinobi has to be very disciplined, and learn to control their chakra. Otherwise, you're nothing but a bully with a few tricks. And bullies," he told them, "Are always easily beaten. So, however, are genin that don't finish their training, and ignore their sensei's orders."

The three cringed anew, and rushed off to finish the tasks set for them for the day.

Kakashi spared a final look at the three below him still meditating, and followed his new squad.

He gave no indication if he saw Naruto's faint smile or not as he left.

_**N**_

"So, here you are," a strident voice filled Ino's ears as she locked Naruto's house as she finally stepped outside, feeling ready to face her teammates after that stupid collapse the day before. She could just imagine the questions they were going to have, but wasn't even thinking of her mother just then as she turned to face that very woman.

"Mother," she said respectfully, bowing to her. "You surprised me."

"When I did not find you at the usual places, I must say, I am still surprised to find you here. I should have known, though. You're as big a whore as your so-called friend," the famed kunoichi told her with a cold glare. "You seem determined to shame our family with your actions. First by getting pregnant, and now by openly living with that….that creature. Tell me. Is he the father?"

"I thought you found that out last night," she shot, still feeling a faint residual ache from having her mother sift though her mind seeking her own answers. That, however, was a deeply buried pain that apparently even her mother's jutsu had not uncovered as yet.

A pain even Ino had tried very hard to forget.

Until the consequences of that day caught up to her in a manner she could not ignore.

"Don't play your games with me, young lady," the woman swore. "I'm not as foolish as your friend's families. I do not intend to let you scandalize our good name just because you cannot keep your legs closed when some man….or demon….come sniffing around you."

"You don't know anything," Ino huffed, and started to walk away. "Don't worry, I won't be doing anything to the family, because as far as I'm concerned….."

"As far as I'm concerned," Lady Yamanaka hissed as she reached for her daughter with shadow fingers that delved deeper into her mind than the night before. "It's time for you to learn what being a proper daughter is all about.

"If I have to strip every shallow thought from that foolish head of yours to do so," she hissed, and Ino gasped as her body convulsed, and felt _that_ memory rise unbidden at her mother's inadvertent prodding.

For a moment she felt the pain surge through her, and then her own will surged up to fill the gap.

"No," she screamed, and through up a barrier. "No more," she hissed, even as she leapt forward, and used her own taijutsu against her mother before the older woman could react.

Her mother staggered back, looking more surprised than hurt as she lifted a backhand to her jaw, and eyed her daughter coldly. "You will pay for that," she said, and dropped into an offensive posture that Ino knew all too well.

"Mother….. You don't understand. I was……"

Mind and fists attacked as one, and Ino didn't even scream as the assault tore through her defenses like a sharp scythe through wheat. She fell back, staring blankly as her mother opened her mind not like a flowering blossom the way she had been taught, but like a window she shattered with brute force.

Ino found herself back on that mission with her squad, temporarily separated and captured by rogue nin they had been tracking. She held out as long as she could, but a dozen enemy ninja had her bound and helpless when they raped her repeatedly before she managed to exploit their carelessness, and slip away in the night to rejoin Shikamaru and Choji. She had kept the shame of her weakness from her teammates, and thought she had escaped without consequences.

She buried that dark memory so deeply she even forgot about it herself for a time, until she discovered she was pregnant, and even her own mind could not protect her any longer.

Her mother's eyes rounded in shock as she relived her own fear and self-loathing that she had been unable to protect herself in spite of being outnumbered. She broke the connection and looked down at her daughter in genuine disdain, no trace of sympathy on her taut features as she straightened her tunic, and adjusted her jacket.

"You didn't even have the sense to be rid of that spawn," she said coldly as she stared down at Ino where she had collapsed to her knees on the walk before her.

"Do not return home. You have shamed us even more than I realized. Henceforth, you are no longer a daughter of mine. If you have any honor left at all, you will do what _should_ be done."

The woman turned and walked away, and Ino stared after her with only dark despair lighting her eyes as she slowly slumped against the side of Naruto's house, and let the darkness rise up to claim her. She didn't even notice the blood pooling beneath her as her throbbing skull overwhelmed all else as she let herself be carried away on a numbing tide of pain.

Then she knew nothing at all.

_To Be Continued……_


	6. Chapter 6

**I do not own Masashi-San's very entertaining characters, nor using them for profit or illegal ventures. I'm just borrowing them for a story of my own.**

_**Naruto: Another Tale**_

_**By LJ58**_

**Part 6:**

Naruto and Hinata paused in their sparring to eye the big shinobi who had come to stand nearby, but did not interfere. The Akamichi heir could be somber at times, and Ten-Ten had seen him look that way more than once, but she could count those times on one hand. Choji, at the best, tended to be a carefree sort that enjoyed life, and didn't like to be burdened by darker feelings.

"Hold on," Naruto nodded as he dropped his defenses as Hinata stepped back, panting, but not quite as breathless as she had been the first time he began teaching her how to fight on a level even Kurenai had never shown them.

"Choji," he turned to the big man. "What's wrong?"

"Sakura asked me to tell you she'll be late. She's with Ino at the hospital."

"Ino? Is something wrong?"

Choji nodded. "Her mother attacked her. She lost the baby. And she's in bad shape. Her own mother….."

Naruto nodded when he fell silent. "I heard she was….strict. It seems there are times when I can appreciate not having had family."

"How bad is she," Hinata asked quietly, always having liked the brash, but tough young kunoichi.

"She hasn't even woke up yet. She…. Her mother….. Just left her on the street. If someone hadn't found her….."

"Sensei," Ten-Ten asked. "Do you think…..you could help her? I mean, I've heard you know all kind of jutsu even the Anbu don't know."

Choji eyed him.

"All right. I'll go see her. I can't make any promises, though," he said more to Choji than to the willowy brunette. "But we should go see how she is at the least."

"Coming," Ten-Ten asked Choji when he stood back, watching them start from the training grounds well marked by their already legendary antics.

"I…..I have to go tell Shikamaru. He wanted her…..in his own wedding," she was reminded. "And I don't think she's going to make it just now."

Naruto didn't look back, or reply. He simply kept going toward the hospital.

_**N**_

"This is why I warned that old fool Sarutobi he was making a mistake keeping that jinchuriki alive," Danzo hissed as he stared out the window, one arm still in a sling, and half his face still bandaged from wounds yet to heal.

The members of the council said nothing as they saw the young blonde walk past the window of their meeting hall with a grim purpose to his stride, two kunoichi behind him. There were rumors that he had a growing harem in the city, and even Jiraiya was saying that something was strange about the man that held the fox-demon in his flesh.

He was certain that Lord Hiashi had seen something the day of the fight with Orochimaru, but he wasn't saying. He suspected that whatever it was had genuinely frightened that proud, old man. Still, if Uzumaki could put an end to someone like the Snake nin with some relative ease, what else could he do? And what else might he be up to after shunning Konoha for so long?

For Danzo, ambitions aside, was certain of one thing.

The Fox Demon had come back for a purpose. One that likely would not be good for anyone around him.

"What do you suggest," one of the older women asked.

"Tsunade, with all due respect, is as ineffectual as that old pacifist. You saw how he led our village into destruction with his appeasement policies. Now she continues his example, and bleeds away even more of our strength even while inviting a greater threat than even Orochimaru could have been right into your midst."

"What would you do?"

"Do? I'd replace that weak old woman with someone that knows and understands the need for a strong presence in this world. Then, I would either neutralize that demon, or chain it to our purpose. Uzumaki cannot be allowed a free reign any longer," he hissed.

"How would you manage that, when it seems he has few enemies that can even stand up to him. He having slain them all," an old man in an ornate robe asked pointedly.

"There are ways. I might not have been a toad sage," the head of Foundation under the Anbu cloak sneered. "But I know some of their ways. There is a seal that can weaken that demon, and make him….submissive. Properly restrained, we can redirect his efforts on our behalf, or…..slay him, if need be," Danzo said coldly.

One of the elders turned from the window after Naruto and kunoichi disappeared down the street, and asked, "And if you can do neither?"

"As I said. I have a ploy."

"Perhaps you would enlighten us, then," Lady Utatane murmured. "Because, as I recall, the last time you had a ploy, we lost the Uchiha boy, and a full third of our shinobi."

"Indeed," the bearded Mitokado nodded. "While I agree that Lady Tsunade has been less than….admirable in her role as hokage, I would prefer to know in advance what you intend before we sever ties that could cause us more trouble than we have already had."

"To start, if we have someone…..stronger in office, we could use their authority to command the jinchuriki with greater effectiveness. If he did resist, then we'd have reason enough to move against him, and bring him fully in line. Or eliminate him."

"If you can eliminate him, why not just do it," Mitokado asked bluntly. "Frankly, even I've heard tales of his roaming the village after dark, and getting into mischief."

Danzo said nothing of his own men being attacked on several occasions as they sounded him out for him. One thing was certain, the kami was keeping an eye on all three women he had apparently gathered to make his personal team. He suspected it was more than just a ninja squad he was forming, though. But what? What?

And why did it nag at him.

"I would, and will, if necessary. But first, my honorable companions, we should consider that to regain the Hidden Leaf's former prestige, his might just might be useful applied to our cause. Especially since he all but personally installed the sand demon as kazekage in his village. Something, which, I admit, also concerns me."

"Hatake did report that he took down the sand demon without discernible effort," Utatane murmured. "He could have easily killed him."

"Exactly," Danzo nodded. "That he did not implies he has something in mind. Something, which I suspect, is what brought him here."

"I thought the Hyuga girl brought him here," Mitokado smirked behind his beard.

Danzo did not immediately reply to that.

"Hinata might have seemingly calmed him," Danzo agreed after a moment's thought. "But considering his actions to date, and how easily he was ready to kill the Haruna girl and Kiba Inuzuka, then I have to believe he let himself be persuaded."

"For whatever his hidden purpose," the bearded elder murmured.

"Exactly," Danzo agreed.

"I think we should first find out what he intends. Then assess the merits of your other….suggestions based on how we are best able to thwart those intentions if they are to our detriment," Lady Utatane remarked.

Mitokado nodded. "I have to agree. It's a sound strategy. Whatever he is up to, he seems to respect, and follow Lady Tsunade's wishes so far. I cannot imagine why, but he does. Focus on Uzumaki's plans, Danzo," he told him. "If we learn what they are, and that they are indeed counter to our own desires, then we shall meet to reconsider our actions."

Danzo nodded, but wanted to curse them for being so cautious. Now was the time for action. Ataksuki was apparently gone. Orochimaru had been destroyed at long last. Now only the usual enemies remained, and the jinchuriki. If he could harness that demon's power for himself, his Foundation would be unstoppable, and through it, Konoha would rise to once more be the emperor's preeminent power.

If he had to peel that kami out of Uzumaki's flesh a piece at a time to manage it, he would do it.

"I will get every man I have working on it now," he finally nodded. "But in the end, I fear that Lady Tsunade will have to be deposed."

"And who would you replace her with, Danzo," a soft voice asked from the door.

They turned to see the stoic Yamato now standing before them without his Anbu mask.

"What is it?"

"Our scouts have just returned. There is growing unrest in the Sound Village. Apparently, some don't believe Orochimaru is dead, and they're readying an army to find out where he's been imprisoned so they can free him."

"This isn't good," Danzo spat. "Did you already tell Lady Tsunade."

Yamato's bland gaze told him everything and nothing.

"All right. It seems we have another dilemma to tend first," Danzo said in disgust, hating the distractions that kept getting in the way of his destiny.

"Actually, Danzo," Utatane murmured. "This is the perfect opportunity to test young Uzumaki. Have his squad sent to face the sound nin, and undermine this threat. Have him find out who is behind it, and have him bring their leaders to us.

"If he accomplishes that, we will not only have a better gauge of his strengths, but we'll have time to better ascertain his own objectives."

"Agreed," Mitokado nodded. "But, I suspect Yamato should go with Uzimaki's team. I understand you still have the skill to suppress tailed beasts," he pointed out. "That might be valuable if those kunoichi get in over their head out there."

"I shall suggest it to Lady Tsunade," he nodded at the elders before turning to leave.

_**N**_

"Feeling any better," Naruto asked quietly as Ino's eyes fluttered open, and she saw him sitting on the side of her bed. The only light in the room came from the half moon that filled the dark sky outside the window, and she realized she didn't feel anything just then.

More importantly, she wasn't feeling any pain.

"How….?"

"Sssssshhhh," he put a finger on her lips. "Just tell me what happened. If you wish, I can help. But, I will be honest, I'll expect a favor from you in return some day. Maybe sooner than you think, too," he said with a faint smile.

She swallowed hard as she sat up, feeling more numb than normal. In fact, she felt absolutely nothing. As if she had been disconnected from her own mind and body. Being a shinobi that specialized in mind-attacks and genjutsu, she knew they were not actually sitting in a hospital room just then. They were inside her own mind.

She stared at his gleaming eyes that showed the reddish flecks more overtly in the moonlight, and asked, "What favor? And what can you do?"

"You've already figured out we're in your own subconscious."

She nodded.

"You suffered serious injuries when your mother attacked you. Mentally, and physically."

"The….baby?"

"Gone. Your mother, apparently, still has serious power in her fists despite having essentially retired from playing ninja."

She sighed. "I thought I was dying."

"You almost did."

Ino only stared at him. "So? What are the details?"

"The details? I can help heal you. I can restore your strength, and if you like, even teach you a little something that will keep even your mother out of your head. As to the favor, well….. I won't know till it happens, will I?"

"It won't be anything…..that hurts my friends?"

"Of course not," Naruto smiled. "To be honest. I don't really care one way or the other about Konoha."

"Then….. Why are you even here? If…..?"

"Hey, even I get bored," he smiled. "And I thought it might be amusing to keep people guessing while I play their silly games for a while. Eventually, I'll get bored with that, too, and probably leave. I would prefer you didn't tell anyone that, though," he told her as if sharing a grand confidence.

"If…..you are in my head….? Then you know….?"

"About the rape? Yes. Frankly, I don't know why you made such a big deal about it. I mean, aside from you witless mother, which I can understand. But your friends, if they are your true friends, would have supported you all along. After all, to be blunt, you're hardly the first kunoichi to get raped in this world."

"I guess not," she murmured, and still just sat and stared at him.

"Well? I'm worrying some people just now. So I really need to know how far you'd like me to go in helping you."

"And….if I say no?"

"I'll just assure everyone you're fine, and will wake up in your own time. You'll be bedridden for a time, of course. If you ever get up on your feet at all. I'm not kidding when I say you were seriously injured."

"So….When I do wake up…..?"

"You'll be in a lot of pain. Unless you accept my help."

They sat in silence for a time, and Naruto let her. Finally, she looked at him again, asking, "And you really won't make me hurt anyone?"

"Not at all. But, I have to insist you don't tell anyone about our…..conversation. Or the favor you owe me."

"I haven't said…."

"Yes, you did."

"Yes, I did," she sighed, nodding.

"Just rest," he told her, putting a forefinger on her brow, and marking her with a glyph just like the one that secretly marked Sakura. "When you wake, you'll be uncomfortable, but you will be fine."

"_And you will be mine_," he added to himself as he smiled at how easily he had found the third of his four sacrifices. That she had essentially given herself to him only made it all the better.

"Why not just take the brown-hair, too, and we'll be done," Kyuubi complained.

"Because, they will be expecting that. Ignoring her in favor of that Hyuga brat's claim will keep them guessing, and help divert their suspicions until it is too late. If Orochimaru and Ataksuki has taught me anything, it is that there is always someone more powerful, or more clever waiting in the wings.

"We may have the power, especially since we absorbed Orochimaru's genjutsu when you devoured him, but we cannot discount the cleverness of these shinobi. I have heard rumors they even have one here that can neutralize all your power, and leave us…..human."

The fox demon's growl at that was eloquent as he pulled out of Ino's mind that now rested with her body, and blinked his eyes to find himself surrounded in the blonde kunoichi's hospital room.

"Well," Tsunade asked.

"She's going to be fine," he told her as the others around him, including Ino's old teammates, sighed in relief. "She'll need rest, of course, and she will need time to fully recover, but she will survive. If," he added as he eyed the Fifth, "You keep Lady Yamanaka away from her. For family, she seems determined to kill her own daughter."

"Well, she hasn't changed much then. She always was a temperamental old……"

"Lady Hokage," Shizune suddenly appeared. "Yamato just returned. We have trouble."

"Of course," the older woman sighed. "Because," she asked the ceiling. "When aren't we having trouble?"

"You should discuss this elsewhere," Sakura reminded her. "Ino should rest now. Even if she's not awake yet, we could disturb her with all this chatter."

"Let us know how she does," Choji told her with a somber nod as he and Shikamaru, trailed by his new fiancée, turned to leave.

"Of course, guys," she told him as Kakashi followed Tsunade to the door with Shizune.

"Naruto," Kakashi asked. "Maybe you would like to come along? We might need your help on this one if it's what we were expecting."

"Sure," he nodded, and glanced back at Sakura.

"Take care of her," he told her quietly, communicating on a level even the pink-haired shinobi didn't quite understand or acknowledge.

She just understood his authority, and accepted it.

_**N**_

Sakura froze, having seen Naruto's gesture just in time to blend into the foliage around her as a band of ten sound ninja came loping though the forest, and headed due southwest toward Konoha. It was the fourth large squad they had encountered since crossing the forest, and approaching the foothills that led to the mountain pass that guarded the sound village.

Behind them, Yamato, Ten-Ten, and Hinata were perched higher up in the branches, the three watching the men head unerringly toward the Hidden Leaf village.

"Shouldn't we be going back to warn the village. Or help them," Ten-Ten asked.

"They'll know to expect enemy skirmishers, "Yamato told her. "Our orders are to find out who is ordering them, and put an end to it before they can go on."

"That's right," Naruto agreed. "So let's get moving. We're going too slow as it is," he complained.

"You could move faster on your own," Yamato asked.

Naruto turned to eye the ninja. "We both know it, jonin," he said blandly, feeling the danger radiating around the man. He wasn't stupid enough to doubt he had been sent as much as a spy as an a guide. Not that Naruto needed one. In the years since he had left the village, he had done a lot of traveling on his own. If he hadn't been there yet, it was simply because he had not bothered to go that direction.

"But you wouldn't leave your…..squad?"

"I promised to look after them, didn't I," he said casually, though his eyes were cool and hard.

"It speaks well for you that you take such oaths seriously."

"Because, being jinchuriki, naturally I'm not trustworthy," he said, glancing back at the man as they continued along the way they had been going.

"I'm not your enemy, Naruto," the stoic ninja told him quietly.

"Yet," Naruto murmured suggestively.

"So long as you do not endanger Konoha, you will not be my enemy," he stated firmly as the women followed in their wake, silent, and wary as they watched the forest around them. Hinata paused periodically to use her Byakugan to ensure they weren't being followed, or about to blunder into another fast-moving squad.

Not that anyone doubted that Naruto wouldn't detect them first. He seemed to be far more sensitive to the world around them than even Hinata's genjutsu allowed.

The two fell silent as they continued onward, and reached the first ridge that marked the swelling mountains that guarded the pass to the Sound Village. Yamato simply eyed Naruto when they crested the ridge, and saw the first cliffs not far ahead.

"We go right up the nearest cliff," he told them. "You kunoichi can handle that, can't you," he asked, not having bothered teaching them anything he considered basic himself.

"Yes, Naruto," all three nodded as one.

"Not yet," he said when they all would have pushed on.

He stood and studied the ridge, and then the cliffs. "We'll wait for nightfall. It's too easy to spot us if we move now. There's no moon tonight, so we can slip right past any guards without being spotted if we are careful."

"That's a good plan," Yamato nodded. "We can use the rest before the climb, too. We've all been pushing hard. Well, most of us," he said with the faintest of smiles when he looked pointedly at Naruto.

"Make camp," Naruto told the three women without comment. "I'll find meat."

"We're risking an open camp," Yamato asked.

"I can mask our presence well enough," he assured the ninja. "I managed to hide all these years without being found, didn't I," he added before the man could comment.

"I'll be back soon," he told them, and walked back into the forest they had just left."

"Let's go," Ten-Ten spoke first. "I saw a glen not far back that will suit perfectly, and it's easily defensible if necessary."

Hinata and Sakura both followed without comment. Yamato hesitated, eyeing the cliffs just beyond the ridge, and considered their next move. He might be Anbu, but he had to admit, so far Naruto was behaving himself, and proving an asset to the village. He was just worried that Danzo might change that if he went ahead with his plans.

So, did he betray the head of the Anbu? Or did he betray Lady Tsunade? He sighed, and turned to follow the women, wondering if Kakashi ever had these problems when he was in the black ops before he left to train genin.

_**N**_

Takiri turned just in time to see a blur streak past him, and frowned.

Even as he turned in the direction of the strange movement, something struck him in the back of the head, and the world went dark. When he woke, he was dangling upside down, and staring at a very long drop that ended on sharp, craggy rocks that overlooked the pass into the village he had been guarding.

Five grim faces stared down at him and he realized only a very slender cord held his bound body from dropping to the unyielding rocks below. A cord held in a cold-eyed young shinobi's hand that seemed to be possessed of preternatural strength, since he was actually holding him up with just that one hand.

"Guess what we want to know," the blonde shinobi asked in a voice that sounded like death's own whisper. "And guess what happens if you don't tell us?"

Takiri swallowed hard. "I'm not telling you anything….!"

He yelped as the cord slid a few inches before the hand tightened again, stopping his apparent fall.

"Wrong answer. All we want is a very simple answer to a very simple question. Who sent the shinobi after the Hidden Leaf? Who ordered the attacks?"

"You did, Leaf vermin," the shinobi hissed. "When you tried to murder our kage after you destroyed Orochimaru!"

"I did," Naruto frowned. "I'll admit, I killed a lot of Sound ninja a few weeks ago, but we haven't even looked your way until you started fielding death squads our way again."

"Liar! Just two weeks ago, you tried to murder our new kage when you came in the night. We have a right to protect ourselves from _your_ kind," he spat. "Then we learned you still held our true leader, Orochimaru captive, and…..!"

"Orochimaru is dead," Naruto told him. "I killed him."

"No," Takiri shook his head. "Impossible. Even you could not have killed the greatest Sannin ever to walk……!"

"Dead. Gone. Finished," Naruto growled, his eyes flaring with a crimson gleam.

"If that is true, it does not change the fact that you tried to….."

"Listen, moron," Naruto hissed. "It wasn't me. In fact, it wasn't anyone from the Leaf. We've been rebuilding, and cleaning up after the last attack. We….."

"Someone is coming," Hinata told him, having been keeping her eyes open as he interrogated the captive.

"She's right," Yamato nodded, and stood up from where he crouched near Naruto. "Four nin. Headed right for us."

Naruto's eyes flashed, and then he smiled. "Let them come," he said, and pulled the bound ninja back up to drop him at their feet.

"Naruto," Sakura frowned.

"I smell a toad," he growled.

"Toad….?"

"Naruto," the white-haired Sannin nodded as he appeared at the head of the small band of sound ninja. "Funny meeting you here."

"Isn't it," he drawled. "Do you know they're sending death squads out to harass the village," he asked. "Lady Tsunade sent us to find out why, and put a stop to it."

"Death squads? No," Jiraiya shook his head. "Lord Hanzaki sent out emissaries to approach the Leaf about creating a new treaty without Orochimaru complicating things. Only someone killed them, and then someone tried to assassinate Lady Sasame, the true, if young heir of this Clan, and well, I've been trying to calm things down since."

"Well, someone is doing something," Yamato told him when Naruto frowned at his words as the three sound ninja eyed him suspiciously. "Because we passed several bands of ninja armed for war headed for the village."

"We dispatched no one," a tall, brown-haired shinobi in dark gray robes said as he walked up behind them.

"Lord Hanzaki," Jiraiya nodded to the man. "Meet Naruto Uzumaki."

"Ah, the Nine-Tails? So you are the one that finally rid us of Orochimaru. Then you have my thanks, and the thanks of our entire village. But I assure you, jinchuriki, we are not making war. We have suffered too long as it is, and our people only want peace, and a chance to rebuild our clan."

"Then someone is trying to manipulate both of us," Naruto realized.

"I agree," Yamato agreed. "Someone with reason to want this war to continue?"

"But who," Jiraiya asked. "I know Tsunade would never allow this kind of thing….."

"I'm more interested in who is sending those ninja out to attack our village," Sakura blurted out. "We crossed paths with four large bands all headed for the Leaf on the way here."

"Not from our village," Takiri sputtered from where he sat, still bound. "No one has left here, and no one has arrived. Until you came."

Jiraiya sighed, and produced a kunai to free the young sentry, and sent him back to his post. Naruto said nothing as the young man glared heatedly at him, and then stalked away muttering, "Next time."

"We have a mystery here," Jiraiya murmured as he ignored Naruto's crimson glare at the young ninja. "And one we must solve before we end up with a genuine war that could yet enflame the land again."

Yamato said nothing, but his expression made Jiraiya eye him.

"What do you know, Tenzo," he asked, using his old code name.

"Just….a suspicion, Master Jiraiya," he said quietly. "Before we left, I overheard Danzo trying to sway the Elders to move against Lady Tsunade."

"And me," Naruto guessed.

"Especially you," he nodded.

"I guessed that was why you were here," Naruto murmured.

"But….why would he act against the Leaf? He could cause more destruction if he is behind this, and things go unchecked."

"Actually, it makes sense," Ten-Ten spoke up. "Stir up another war, and make Lady Tsunade looked helpless, and he could finally step up and take over as the Sixth."

She eyed the men that all looked at her.

"What? Everyone knows that psychotic old fossil has been after the position of hokage for years. He still thinks we should use force to make all the other lands bow to us. If he does take over, we could end up in another endless cycle of war."

"You've been talking to Neji again," Hinata remarked quietly.

"Well, he's right."

"Yes, he is," Jiraiya told them. "Yamato, I have to know. If we have to cross Danzo….?"

"Anbu is devoted to the village, and the Hokage," the man told him quietly in his usual manner. "Not any one man, whoever they are. If Danzo is a traitor…..I'm not the only black op that will stand against him. However, you have to know that just as many might stand for him. And there are rumors that he has a private army of elite shinobi that he commands."

"A private army that might dupe our villages into going to war," Sakura asked.

Not one of them spoke for a moment.

"I give you my word," Hansaki told them. "None of the Fuma Clan, or the Sound Village will act against the Leaf unless you come here to start trouble," he told them. "We will defend ourselves, but we will not contribute to this farce."

"Good," Yamato nodded as Jiraiya eyed Naruto thoughtfully.

"That said, you have two weeks to stop this madness, or we will seek other allies, and we will not allow anyone to try to destroy us again. We are finally free of one madman. We will not tolerate another."

"Yamato," Jiraiya said, handing a sealed scroll to him. "Take this to Tsunade. Only to her. Find out what you can of these….other nin attacking. Find out if they are even truly Sound shinobi. But alert her to what is apparently happening here. We can scarcely afford another war either. I will stay here and help defend the Otogakure until this is settled."

Yamato nodded. "All right. We'll head back at once. Be careful, Lord Jiraiya. If these people can impersonate apparent enemies. It stands to reason they may also impersonal apparent friends."

"I'm too experienced to be duped by simple genjutsu," he snorted.

"Don't you mean too old," Naruto drawled, still not liking the old man.

Both glared at one another, and then Naruto turned to his squad. "I don't like being played," he growled. "Let's go find out what is really going on. And stop it."

Especially, he thought secretly, since it was interfering with his plans which were very close to finally coming to fruition. This close to his ultimate aim, he was not going to let anyone, or anything stand in his way. Not even if he had to level the Leaf Village himself.

"Naruto," Hinata cried as he leapt right off the side of the cliff, and vanished into the forest far below even before they could start down the cliff after him. "Wait!" He was already gone. Takiri, standing nearby, stood gaping with his mouth open. No one he knew could leap like that. No one human.

"We'd better go, too," Yamato told Jiraiya, and turned to take a more controlled descent alongside the three kunoichi.

_To Be Continued…….._


	7. Chapter 7

_I do not own Masashi-San's very entertaining characters, nor using them for profit or illegal ventures. I'm just borrowing them for a story of my own._

_**Naruto: Another Tale**_

_**By LJ58**_

**Part 7:**

Naruto reached the village not long after dark on the fourth day since leaving the Sound Village. His team and Yamato were still a few hours behind him. He could have made it even faster, but he stopped to find and question Sound nin that were found in the area.

Sound nin that were, in fact, Leaf shinobi. No surprise there.

He quickly incapacitated the men sent out by Danzo, though even he couldn't pry his name from their lips, and then moved on. Still, it was obvious that the head of the Foundation, and his secret band were up to something.

He charged the kunoichi on his team to help take out any false enemy nin another the way, and moved ahead to do what had to be done. He, rather than Yamato, carried Jiraiya's missive since he was the faster of the two. He intended to deliver that message, and then tend to the treacherous shinobi himself. He was very close now to his ultimate goal, and he didn't want to be sidetracked by needless diversions now.

Not with what was at stake for him and Kyubi.

He continued to move, his body easily leaping farther and higher than any other shinobi could have managed in spite of the training and techniques they might possess. In moments, he was on the hokage's balcony, and he slipped into her window to find the woman sleeping fitfully at her desk.

"Hey, old lady," he grunted less than teasingly as he dropped the sealed scroll on her desk before her.

"Huh! Wha….! Naruto? You're back already? What did you find out? What happened?"

"I could tell you, but just so you'll trust my report, why don't you read that first," he suggested, nodding at the message scroll.

"Jiraiya sent this," she frowned, and opened it. "Why didn't he just…."

"He's still helping out back in the Sound. As to my squad, I left them outside the village to mop up a few stragglers around the village. Not sound nin, by the way. They're Danzo's men, posing as them."

She frowned, and wiped the sleep from her eyes as she pulled open the scroll, and read the words her fellow sannin had written. "This is….! Why would even he risk another war? I don't understand…."

"Frankly, I doubt you ever will. Some men just crave power. It's the way of the world," Naruto told her.

"You don't?"

"I just want to be left alone, and to live my life in peace. Something I can't do with your ninja running back and forth hammering at each other over every little complaint," he grumbled.

"Well, whatever is going on here, we can't let Danzo lead us into war again when we only just managed to end the last one."

"You do know he has his own army, and has the support of half the elders in the village."

Tsunade didn't find that surprising. Most of those old farts were always arguing over every decision she made. Most of them had never wanted her named hokage. They'd rather have had Jiraiya, perv that he was, than her. Still, she couldn't blame them. She didn't have the best reputation. Or the best luck.

Only she was hokage, and she was in charge.

"Can I count on you, Naruto?"

"Considering what I can guess Danzo intends for me? Why not? But if I have to, don't tell me not to kill him if he pushes me."

"I hope it won't come to that," he was told.

"Right," he drawled less than convinced as she rose to her feet.

"Right now, we'd better gather a few people we can trust, and then go have a chat with Danzo."

"By now, he probably already knows I'm back, and is on his way here."

She frowned at that.

"You don't honestly believe he would openly move against…..?"

The sound of the knock was loud, and curt.

"Come in," she called.

Five of the nine elders walked into her office when the door opened. Shizune looked on helplessly as she was pushed out of the way when she entered with them. Danzo, and five of his own Anbu were among them.

"Lady-hokage," the older man smiled coolly as he glanced at her, and seemed to dismiss her as he turned to Naruto. "We have come to request you step aside."

"Step aside," the aging blonde sannin hissed, her own temper far from level.

"For the good of the village," he added, his good eye still locked on Naruto.

"Or your good," she asked pointedly as she noted the five elders with him were those that had always openly supported him, and undermined her. "Tell me, do your supporters know that you're having false enemy nin planted in the forest to instigate another war? Do they know you're trying to lead us into another senseless conflict to…..?"

"You know nothing," he spat. "Now, I order you to stand aside, and….."

"Order," Tsunade asked, and leveled her gaze on him. "I didn't see you on the walls fighting that day. I didn't see you in the streets when the village was infiltrated by snake nin. In fact, I didn't see you that day at all. One has to wonder whose side you're really on," she growled.

"I care only for the safety and security of this village, of course," she was told curtly.

"Then why did you try to assassinate the legitimate heir of the Fuma Clan just when they were ready to treat with us," she demanded.

She spun to face the elders, pointedly Utatane, and held out Jiraiya's letter. "And that comes directly from Lord Jiraiya, who was in place to prevent that monstrous ploy," she told them.

The older man turned to face Danzo, and simply stared.

"That old man knows nothing of what he's talking about," Danzo fumed. "Listen to me. You're bewitched by this….demon. I don't know what he intends, but he has you all enchanted by his….dark magics."

"As if I'd bother," Naruto snorted. "Frankly, I'm only here because it suits me to watch you idiots screwing with each other. It's fun to watch. Only you're messing with innocent people out there, and I don't like that."

"_You_! Don't like innocents suffering," Danzo laughed. "I thought you were a demon, boy!"

"Would you like to see how much a demon I am," Naruto growled as Danzo reached for his right arm still covered in thick bandages.

He froze, seeing all eyes on him, and stepped back.

"You trust him? _Her_," he demanded of the elders. "Fine. But when they lead you into ruin, remember I tried to save you. Next time, maybe I won't bother," he said suggestively, but Naruto wasn't fooled.

The man was still up to something.

"I'm keeping my eye on you, demon," Danzo spat before he turned, and simply stalked out.

"Well, that was…anticlimactic," Shizune murmured as the elders said nothing, but simply turned to follow Danzo and his followers out of the office.

Tsunade nodded her agreement.

"He's got something up his sleeve," she told her aide, and long-time companion.

"That goes without saying," Naruto grumbled.

"So, you're just here to watch us make fools of ourselves," she turned to ask him.

Naruto smiled at the hokage. "It's something he would believe. Do you really think he would believe the truth?"

"And what is the truth," she asked of him.

"Honestly," he said, looking right back at her. "I'm looking for a family. A place of my own to call my own. I was starting to think it might be here," he told her. "Now, I'm wondering….."

"It still can be," Shizune told him quickly. "Not everyone is like Danzo."

"You'd better hope not," he told her, and turned to her window. "I'm going to check on my squad. If I were you, I'd keep a very close watch on the wannabe."

Tsunade said nothing to that as he turned to vanish out her open window.

"Wow."

"Yeah. Keep a watch on both of them," she said to the Anbu who had been waiting in the shadows. "Just in case."

*****

"Okay, that's weird," Choji said as he came into the restaurant to meet with his friends, and their senseis for the evening meal.

"What's that," Shikamaru asked as he looked up from where his head had been in his hands, trying very hard not to listen too closely to the 'lecture' Tamari was giving him about his eating habits.

"I went to invite Ino over to join us, and she was gone. In fact, they're all gone."

"Define all," Asuma told him.

"Well, you know she's been staying over at Naruto's lately. Well, usually she's there with Hinata, Ten-Ten, and Sakura. Only no one was there tonight."

"That's because Ten-Ten is out with Neji this evening," Lee smiled. "Apparently, our usually gloomy comrade has found a ray of sunshine to light his nights," he grinned.

Shino just rolled his eyes.

"And the others," Kurenai asked.

"Now that you mention it," Kiba remarked. "I know two others that disappeared earlier tonight, and haven't been seen."

"Two other…._kunoichi_," Danzo appeared out of the shadows behind them to ask brusquely.

"Why, yes," he nodded.

"That's five," Danzo hissed. "I should have guessed. I should have guessed. Go and find your witless hokage. We must stop Naruto."

"Stop him from what," Choji frowned.

"From finally freeing the nine-tails from his body, and turning that demon loose upon the world once more," he hissed.

"Why don't you warn her," Kurenai asked.

"Because she might not listen to me after a certain….misunderstanding earlier this evening.

Asuma and Kurenai shared a grim expression, and quickly rose to join him. "You'd better tell us everything."

"It's simple," Danzo told them as he led them out into the street. "_Five_ kunoichi? I should have foreseen this. It's why he came here. I see it now. If he takes, and sacrifices five innocent souls who willingly accept his dark touch, then he can free himself upon this world again. I should have seen it sooner, but, like you, I was blinded by his apparent altruism."

"So it's a form of the five elemental seal breaker?"

Danzo nodded at Kurenai. "Exactly. And if I'm right, we don't have much time. You must hurry, because if he carries out this ceremony, you might not be able to stop him this time."

"You're right," Kakashi came out of the night to join them. "We'd better take this to Lady Tsunade," he told him. "I doubt she'd trust you just now."

Danzo said nothing to that as the silver-haired ninja eyed him somberly, then turned to race toward the hokage's tower.

"If we stop the rite…..?"

"If you time it right," he said. "You can weaken the jinchuriki enough that you can possibly kill him. Or bind him once and for all."

"He's right," Jiraiya appeared as if on cue at that moment.

"I thought you stayed behind in the Sound," Danzo snorted.

"Actually, I've been suspicious of Naruto myself from the start, too," the old sage told him. "Whatever he might have been before, Naruto is too bound to the Nine-Tails to be considered truly human now. When he started collecting kunoichi, I guessed he had an ulterior motive. Still, I hoped I was wrong."

"Obviously, you weren't," Danzo told him.

"We'll stop him," Jiraiya said solemnly, then eyed Danzo. "Just as we will stop any threat to the Hidden Leaf," he added before he turned to follow the path Kakashi took.

"Impudent sage," he muttered as the other two shinobi vanished in his wake, too.

Danzo looked back into the shadows. "Stay ready. If Tsunade falls this night, we might yet have our chance. First, and foremost, the fox-demon must be dealt with."

The men in the shadows said nothing.

*****

"It's time for that favor," Naruto told Ino as he led the five women into the forest to a place carefully prepared for just this moment.

With the moon overhead, it was the perfect time, and the perfect place to carry out his ultimate plan.

"What is this place," Sakura asked, looking around as she realized the hard earth had been shaped into a square, and at each corner-point a small torch was placed in the ground.

"This," he told them as gestured, and Hinata walked willingly to the center of the square. "Is where I was bound to human flesh. This," he told them, "Is where we shall all shed the burden of that curse, and become greater than we are now."

"Greater," Sakura frowned as she was steered to one corner, and the torch placed in her hand.

In turn, Ino, Hana, and Cho, the last two nondescript kunoichi he had chosen in secret to better hide his hand all took their places before he walked into the center of the square, and put Hinata to her knees before him.

"Now, focus all your chakra on me," he ordered. "Let it all flow, just as I've taught you, and in turn, my chakra shall fill you. When we are bound, we shall begin," he smiled, thinking of what was ahead, and what dreams were about to finally be fulfilled.

"Yes, master," all five murmured in one voice as they opened themselves to him, and the ceremony began.

*****

"_Five Elements Sealing Jutsu_," Kakashi and Jiraiya both shouted even as Kurenai and Tsunade came up on behind the other kunoichi to echo them, slapping glowing palms to each of the four kunoichi that surrounded the clearing where Naruto and his one, true bride knelt.

Naruto, standing over Hinata, about to slit her throat to free the fledgling demon within her, roared in fury even as he felt the seal around Kyubi within him suddenly swell and strengthen as the flow of chakra from the others was suddenly cut off..

Even as he screamed his outrage, Yamato rose out of the very earth, ignoring him, and touched Hinata's brow. Employing his secret wood release technique, the fledgling demon within her flesh died stillborn as Naruto staggered back, physically weakened for a moment by the sudden disruption in the ceremony meant to rebirth Kyubi upon the earth, and turn all four kunoichi into one-tailed fox demons that would follow him forever.

"We're grateful for what you did for the village, Naruto," Tsunade said as she came forward with the others after the kunoichi were quickly carried away by others that came forward to take charge of them. "But we cannot allow you to do what you planned here."

Naruto said nothing as he simply looked up at her from where he knelt, then abruptly lunged at her throat with outstretched claws.

"Suckered!" the hokage roared as she tensed to defend herself, only to realize Naruto had leapt right over her to flee into the trees beyond.

"After him," Jiraiya shouted. "While he's still vulnerable."

All five shinobi raced after the figure in black and orange, and managed to catch him even as he tried to flee into the thicker woodlands for cover. Kunai flew, as did powerful jutsu, and Naruto ducked, evaded, and managed to elude them until he suddenly found himself confronted by a scowling woman with a hard fist.

"We trusted you," Tsunade hissed, and drove her enhanced fist into his jaw.

He was flung back almost to the point where he had begun as the five nin converged on him again before he could escape.

"You're trapped. In this circle, you're just a man again, Naruto," Jiraiya told him. "Now, relent. We can reseal the demon, and give you your true life back."

"I have a life," he stood up, spitting blood.

"So be it," Kakashi said grimly, and his glowing lightning blade lit the night as he lunged forward, and Naruto fixed his eyes on him as he sought escape again, only to find himself surrounded by the other four who all stood ready to cut him off.

The moment he looked away, the copy-nin struck, driving his glowing hand like a living blade into his chest as his gleaming Sharingan lit the way.

Naruto just stared into his good eye as Kakashi looked into his pale, etched face.

"I'm sorry, Naruto," he murmured as he pulled his bladed hand back, covered in dark blood.

The younger man staggered back, visibly sagging as he clasped a hand to his chest.

"Knew…."

Naruto choked, coughing up blood as he shuddered violently.

"Knew I should have…..tore out….."

He fell back, staring sightlessly at the sky as the Leaf shinobi began to close the gap around the apparent body.

"It's not a clone," Kurenai asked cautiously, eyeing the limp, bloody figure.

They all stared at the bloody, battered body, and Kakashi hissed as he suddenly jumped back. "Back," he ordered the others as a scarlet shimmering haze rose around the body. For a moment the haze took on a vaguely bestial shape as the searing energies began to char and consume the body before them until only ash remained.

Yamato put up a protective barrier as the flaming silhouette gave a silent roar, and tried to strike at them, but even as it did, it was already fading. Vanishing into the very air as the ash on the ground remained in a vaguely human shape with a few pieces of an orange and black uniform left behind.

"I think….that was no clone," Kakashi said after Yamato's barrier was lowered, and only the ash remained to mark the passing of the jinchuriki.

"No. It wasn't," Tsunade agreed, staring sadly at the end of a life that once held such promise.

"We'd better get back to the village. We still have a rebellion to finish quelling, and we need to tend those hapless girls," Jiraiya reminded them.

"Right," Kurenai agreed. "Thankfully, we were able to figure this out in time to stop it."

"Oddly enough, we have Danzo to thank," Kakashi remarked.

"That doesn't excuse what he tried to do."

"No. It doesn't," Tsunade told the Toad Sage.

"Let's go," Yamato told them. "We're done here," he said after he gestured, and the ground turned over on itself to bury the ashes that marked the end of the nine-tails, and its host.

No one argued.

*****

"Were you followed?"

"No, master," the young kunoichi told him as she offered the carefully prepared pack to him. "Everyone is still focused on Danzo's people, or watching the other four kunoichi you chose. They didn't even think to look at me."

Naruto took the food, and eagerly devoured it as he smiled and nodded at her.

The ceremony had taken a great deal out of him. More than expected. Being interrupted had been anticipated, and so were his precautions. Still, it had been a close thing. Pouring so much of his precious chakra into the clone he used to deceive the shinobi at the end had drained him even more. Especially after the very convincing 'death scene' he had crafted for that toad sage. Enough that he was left very genuinely weakened.

"How do the others fare?"

"They are well. But no one suspects them."

"Good. Remind them to remain quiet, and acquiescent for the moment. I will call them soon enough. For now, they need to wait, and grow strong."

"Sakura fears the sealing jutsu might harm her, or your child."

"Their jutsus are nothing. Tell her so."

"I will," Ail nodded before she scooped up the empty pack, and turned to go. "I'll be back tomorrow night."

"Wait two nights. Keep to your own routines. We don't want the copy-nin growing suspicious, after all," he smiled.

"No, master," she agreed.

"Be patient. Our time will come soon enough," he promised.

For what those witless shinobi didn't realize was that that was more than one way to free a demon. And he had not been trying to 'free' Kyubi. He/They were already free. He was freeing the new one-tailed vixens he had created within his carefully chosen mates. And while the sacrifice of their flesh might have made that process easier, and faster, he could wait a few months to let the chakra-spirits now growing within his brides consume their hosts to become as he; true kami.

Then, they would finally put the Leaf, and all those like them behind once and for all.

He could not wait.

"I will obey," Ail agreed, having been 'conscripted' on one of her late night walks without anyone the wiser. The ambitious, eager girl was so ready to prove herself that she willingly accepted his mark to gain more power. As his sixth choice she filled the numbers needed to break the seals of human flesh not on himself, but on the kunoichi, she was kept in the shadows, ready to aid him or his other brides as necessary.

After all, every pack needed a servant.

He chuckled at that as the eager little girl scrambled off into the darkness beyond his hiding place in a cavern deep inside a cavern he had created just for his recovery. A cavern only those he touched could even hope to find.

Everything, he mused somberly, was finally going his way. Just as he/they had long planned and anticipated.

This time, nothing, or no one, would stop him from his intentions. After all, it was his destiny.

*****

They called him Madara.

Arguably, the greatest of the Uchiha. Now, apparently the last.

He eyed the mountains that sheltered the Leaf Village, and focused on what only he could see.

Akatsuki had been lost while he had been distracted with that folly involving Sasuke and Danzo. Before he could return to aid them, the rogue jinchuriki had leveled his unwitting allies, and severely damaged his ultimate plan for peace in his ever warring world.

What he saw now presented a very dangerous development. Still, to act precipitously even against the weakened nine-tails would only invite further disaster. Better to wait, and watch. Bide his time. Then he would redraft his plans, and continue.

For Madara was possessed of a singular conviction. He was determined to see the fulfillment of his great plan for genuine peace. The Moon's Eye was more than a dream. It was a promise. One he had made the world years ago when he left Konoha, and its witlessly warring factions. He wasn't sure what the fox-demon was really planning just yet, but it didn't matter.

In the end. He would prevail.

It was, after all, his destiny.


End file.
